Combination bands and the measurement of the auditory filter

Abstract

An experiment [human] was conducted to determine if combination bands generated by the interaction of signal and noise distorts measures of the auditory filter shape. Probe tones with frequencies of 0.68, 0.76, 0.84, 0.92 and 1.0 kHz were used to measure the masking patterns produced by a notched noise with edges at 0.6 and 1.2 kHz, a high-pass noise with cutoff at 1.2 kHz and a high-pass noise (cutoff 1.2 hKz) combined with a 1.0-kHz tone. Apparently, the cubic difference band, generated by the interaction of the 1.0-kHz tone and the nearest components of the high-pass noise, produces little if any masking over and above that produced by the high-pass noise alone, and far less masking than the notched noise produces in the same region. Apparently, within the framework of a power-spectrum model of masking, this type of combination band does not distort the shape of the auditory filters derived previously with notched noise maskers.