hearing science quiz

masking

interference that one stimulus causes in the production of another stimulus

masking efficiency

difficulty that the masker provides in the detection of the signal

2 types maskers

tonal and noise

psychoacoustic tuning curve

threshold of tonal detection with tonal masker

factors influencing masking efficiency

noise frequency and noise level

auditory filter

process where the ear separates different sound frequencies, allowing us to perceive and distinguish various sounds

broad bandwidth

range of frequencies a hearing device can process and amplify

equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB)

gives an approximation to the bandwidths of the filters in human hearing

auditory filter function

determines frequency selectivity

notch noise method

varying the width and position of the notch relative to the signal frequency and measuring the signal threshold

simultaneous masking

signal and masker are present at the same time

forward masking

signal follows the masker

backwards masking

masker follows the signal

loudness

attribute of auditory sensation where a sound is ranked based on a scale of quiet to loud

2 ways to measure loudness

matching and scaling

matching method

listeners are asked to adjust the level of the target sound to match the loudness of the reference sound
reference sound: 1 kHz
tone: 40, 50…db SPL

scaling method

listeners are asked to scale a sound relative to the loudness of the reference sound
reference sound: 1 kHz
tone: 40 db SPL defined as 1 sone

equal loudness contour

matching method, frequency dependent

loudness growth function

describes how the perceived loudness of a sound changes as its intensity increases

factors influencing loudness

frequency (broadband/narrowband), intensity level, duration