Abstract:
Green [Time Resolution in Auditory Systems, 1985] distinguished between two broad classes of paradigms that presumably represent the two ends of the auditory temporal processing continuum. At one extreme are measures of temporal integration (TI) that estimate the maximum time over which acoustic information can be stored. At the other extreme are measures of temporal acuity/resolution (TA) that estimate the briefest detectable change in acoustic information. The goal of both paradigms is to estimate a time constant ((tau)) for the auditory system. Traditionally, (tau)[inf 1] reported for TI is more than an order of magnitude longer than (tau)[inf A] estimated for TA. The aim of this study was to resolve this apparent paradox. Detection thresholds were obtained for a range of brief bandlimited (W[inf N]=62--6000 Hz) increments within a broadband noise to estimate (tau) in TI and TA tasks from the same listeners. For each W[inf N] condition, detection thresholds were measured as a function of (1) increment duration (P[inf N]=10--480 ms) by tracking increment level adaptively to estimate (tau)[inf I] and (2) increment level by tracking increment duration adaptively to estimate (tau)[inf A]. The resulting (tau)[inf I] and (tau)[inf A] estimates are comparable and vary inversely with W[inf N] from about 70 to 7 ms. [Research supported by NIH.]