Kidd G, Mason C R
Department of Communication Disorders, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1992 May;91(5):2855-64. doi: 10.1121/1.402966.
A new technique is described for studying the ability of listeners to discriminate between sounds on the basis of spectral shape, a process called "auditory profile analysis." The advantage of the technique is that it reduces the range of the random rove in level necessary to provide a specified limit on the performance which listeners could achieve by "level detection;" that is, by employing a detection strategy based solely on comparisons of stimulus level. Thresholds were measured for the just-discriminable "ripple" (a pattern of alternating intensity increments and decrements) in an equal-amplitude, multitone reference spectrum for a group of normal-hearing listeners. Broadband, high-pass and low-pass filtered conditions were tested. The results indicated that the thresholds obtained using the new technique were well below the lowest level achievable by level detection (referred to as the "level-detection limit") in all conditions using a 20-dB random within-trial rove in overall level. The lowest threshold occurred for the broadband stimulus while the highest threshold was observed for the most extreme high-pass filtered condition. The new technique appears to be well-suited for study of profile analysis in hearing-impaired listeners where stimulus bandwidth and rove range are limited.
本文描述了一种新技术，用于研究听众基于频谱形状区分声音的能力，这一过程称为“听觉轮廓分析”。该技术的优势在于，它减少了为给听众通过“电平检测”（即仅基于刺激电平比较采用检测策略）所能达到的表现设定特定限制所需的电平随机波动范围。对一组听力正常的听众，测量了等幅多音参考频谱中可刚可辨别的“波纹”（强度交替增减的模式）的阈值。测试了宽带、高通和低通滤波条件。结果表明，在所有条件下，使用新技术获得的阈值远低于通过电平检测可达到的最低电平（称为“电平检测极限”），整体电平在试验内有20分贝的随机波动。宽带刺激的阈值最低，而在最极端的高通滤波条件下观察到最高阈值。新技术似乎非常适合研究听力受损听众的轮廓分析，因为刺激带宽和波动范围有限。
