Elizabeth A. Strickl
Dept. of Psych., Univ. of Florida, P.O. Box 112250, Gainesville, FL 32611-2250
Temporal resolution was examined in the context of an envelope detector model. This model incorporates two limits to temporal resolution: filtering by the peripheral auditory system, and a central temporal window. It predicts that temporal resolution should increase with the bandwidth of the peripheral filter up to a certain filter width, beyond which it should be determined by the central limitations. To determine whether the predicted relationship between peripheral filtering and temporal resolution could be observed, temporal resolution and auditory filter widths were measured as a function of frequency region and level. Because auditory filters widen with level and with center frequency, the relationship between temporal resolution and filter width could thus be tested both within and across frequency regions. Temporal modulation transfer functions (TMTFs) were measured for frequency regions from 500 to 4000 Hz using narrow-band noise. Auditory filter functions were measured in the same frequency regions, using the notched-noise method with probe level fixed. Both the TMTFs and filter functions were measured at two levels in each frequency region. As predicted, time constants were correlated with filter width for narrow filters, and were constant for wider filters. [Work partially supported by a post-doctoral fellowship from NIH.]