Hearing Sensitivity to Gliding Rippled Spectra in Hearing-Impaired Listeners.

Objectives: Sensitivity to the gliding of ripples in rippled-spectrum signals was measured in both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.

Methods: The test signal was a 2 oct wide rippled noise centered at 2 kHz, with the ripples gliding downward along the frequency scale. Both the gliding velocity and ripple density were frequency-proportional across the signal band.

Ripple density resolution dependence on ripple width.

The goal of the study was to investigate how variations in ripple width influence the ripple density resolution. The influence of the ripple width was investigated with two experimental paradigms: (i) discrimination between a rippled test signal and a rippled reference signal with opposite ripple phases and (ii) discrimination between a rippled test signal and a flat reference signal. The ripple density resolution depended on the ripple width: the narrower the width, the higher the resolution.

Rippled-spectrum resolution dependence on frequency: Estimates obtained by discrimination from rippled and nonrippled reference signals.

The resolution of spectral ripples is a useful test for the spectral resolution of hearing. However, the use of different measurement paradigms might yield diverging results because of a paradigm-dependent contribution of excitation-pattern and temporal-processing mechanisms. In the present study, ripple-density resolution was measured in normal-hearing listeners for several frequency bands (centered at 0.

Estimates of Ripple-Density Resolution Based on the Discrimination From Rippled and Nonrippled Reference Signals.

Rippled-spectrum stimuli are used to evaluate the resolution of the spectro-temporal structure of sounds. Measurements of spectrum-pattern resolution imply the discrimination between the test and reference stimuli. Therefore, estimates of rippled-pattern resolution could depend on both the test stimulus and the reference stimulus type.

Contribution of Cochlear Compression to Discrimination of Rippled Spectra in On- and Low-frequency Noise.

The goal of the study was to assess cochlear compression when rippled-spectrum signals are perceived in noise assuming that the noise might produce both masking and confounding effects. In normal listeners, discrimination between rippled signals with and without ripple phase reversals was assessed in background noise. The signals were band-limited (0.

Hearing sensitivity to gliding rippled spectrum patterns.

The sensitivity of human hearing to gliding rippled spectrum patterns of sound was investigated. The test signal was 2-oct wide rippled noise with the ripples gliding along the frequency scale. Both ripple density and gliding velocity were frequency-proportional across the signal band; i.

Discrimination of rippled-spectrum patterns in noise: A manifestation of compressive nonlinearity.

In normal-hearing listeners, rippled-spectrum discrimination was psychophysically investigated in both silence and with a simultaneous masker background using the following two paradigms: measuring the ripple density resolution with the phase-reversal test and measuring the ripple-shift threshold with the ripple-shift test. The 0.5-oct wide signal was centered on 2 kHz, the signal levels were 50 and 80 dB SPL, and the masker levels varied from 30 to 100 dB SPL.

Hearing Sensitivity to Shifts of Rippled-Spectrum Sound Signals in Masking Noise.

The goal of the study was to enlarge knowledge of discrimination of complex sound signals by the auditory system in masking noise. For that, influence of masking noise on detection of shift of rippled spectrum was studied in normal listeners. The signal was a shift of ripple phase within a 0.

Masking of rippled-spectrum-pattern resolution in diotic and dichotic presentations.

Using rippled noise probes, spectrum-pattern resolution was measured with and without a narrow-band noise masker. Diotic presentation of both the probe and masker (S(0)N(0) mode) resulted in decreased spectrum resolution as compared to the control (no masker) conditions. The effects of the low- and on-frequency maskers differed quantitatively, however in both cases the ability to discriminate the probe spectrum pattern was suppressed completely when the masker/probe level ratio exceeded 10dB (on-frequency masker) or 10-25dB, depending on the probe level (low-frequency masker).

Rippled-spectrum resolution dependence on masker-to-probe ratio.

Resolution of rippled sound spectrum (probe) in the presence of additional noise band (masker) was studied as a function of masker-to-probe ratio and sound level in normal listeners. The probe bands were 0.5-oct wide (ERB) centered at 2 kHz; the masker band either coincided with the probe (on-frequency masker), or was 3/4 octaves below (low-frequency masker), or 3/4 octaves above the probe (high-frequency masker).

Rippled-spectrum resolution dependence on level.

Rippled-density resolution of a rippled sound spectrum (probe band) in both the presence and absence of another band (masker) was studied as a function of sound level in normal listeners. The resolvable ripple density in the probe band was measured by finding the highest ripple density at which an interchange of ripple peak and valley positions was detectable (the phase-reversal test). Probe bands were 0.