Abstract
Informational masking is broadly defined as a degradation of auditory detection or discrimination of a signal embedded ina context of other similar sounds; it is not related to energetic masking caused by physical interactions between signal and masker. In this paper, we report a systematic release from informational masking of a target tone in anine-tone rapid auditory sequence as the target is increasingly isolated in frequency or intensity from the remaieining sequence components. Improved target-tone frequency difference limens as isolation increases are interpreted as a reflection of increasingly focused auditory attention. The change from diffuse to highly focused attention is gradual over the frequency and intensity ranges examined, with each 1-dB increment in target intensity relative to the remaining components producing performance improvements equivalent to those produced by a 2% increase in frequency isolation. The results are modeled as bands of attention in the frequency and intensity domains. For attention directed by frequency isolation, there is a strong correspondence with auditory filters predicted by the power spectrum model of masking. These data also support the existence of an attention band of intensity, with a bandwidth of about 5–7 dB at the moderate levels used in this experiment.
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Support for this research was provided in part by a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.
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Leek, M.R., Brown, M.E. & Dorman, M.F. Informational masking and auditory attention. Perception & Psychophysics 50, 205–214 (1991). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206743
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206743