Comparison of the masked thresholds of a simulated moving and stationary auditory signal.

Abstract

The masked thresholds of a simulated moving signal produced by a linear stepwise change in inter-aural time delay, and with movement at two different locations in the phenomenal field, were compared with the thresholds obtained with a stationary signal. A noise band extending from 75 to 850 cps was used as the signal and was presented against an uncorrelated masking noise. The results of the threshold comparisons with several different rates of signal movement indicate that the masked threshold of a moving signal is a function only of its localization at any given instant in time, and that a moving signal does not elicit a lower masked threshold than does a stationary signal.