Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Nov;124(5):EL321-7.
doi: 10.1121/1.2993745.

The effect of signal-temporal uncertainty on detection in bursts of noise or a random-frequency complex

Angela Yarnell Bonino, Lori J Leibold

The effect of signal-temporal uncertainty on detection in bursts of noise or a random-frequency complex

Angela Yarnell Bonino et al. J Acoust Soc Am. 2008 Nov.

Erratum in

  • J Acoust Soc Am. 2013 Jan;133(1):587

Abstract

This study examined the effect of signal-temporal uncertainty on detection of a 120-ms, 1-kHz tone in the presence of a continuous sequence of 120-ms bursts of either a broadband noise or a random-frequency, two-tone complex. Using the method of constant stimuli, signal-temporal uncertainty was defined as the difference in threshold across temporally uncertain and temporally defined listening conditions. Results indicted an average effect of signal-temporal uncertainty of 2 dB for the noise masker compared to 9 dB for the random-frequency, two-tone masker. These results suggest that signal-temporal uncertainty may be more detrimental for conditions in which informational masking dominates performance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The release from masking produced by reducing signal-temporal uncertainty (temporally uncertain minus temporally defined threshold) is plotted for individual subjects and for the mean across subjects. Error bars indicate ±1 standard error of the mean across subjects. Masking release for the broadband noise masker is shown by open circles. Masking release for the random two-tone masker is shown by filled squares.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Best, V., Ozmeral, E. J., and Shinn-Cunningham, B. G. (2007). “Visually-guided attention enhances target identification in a complex auditory scene,” J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. ZZZZZZ 8, 294–304. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chang, P., and Viemeister, N. F. (1991). “Temporal windows for signals presented at uncertain times,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. JASMAN 90, 2248.
    1. Dai, H. (1995). “On measuring psychometric functions: A comparison between the adaptive up-down and constant-stimulus method,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. JASMAN10.1121/1.413802 98, 3135–3139. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Durlach, N. I. (2006). “Auditory masking: Need for improved conceptual structure,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. JASMAN10.1121/1.2335426 120, 1787–1790. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Durlach, N. I., Mason, C. R., Kidd, G., Arbogast, T. L., Colburn, H. S., and Shinn-Cunningham, B. G. (2003). “Note on informational masking,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. JASMAN10.1121/1.1570435 113, 2984–2987. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types