Comparison of frequency selectivity for the monaural and binaural hearing systems: Evidence from a probe-frequency procedure

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Abstract
Frequency selectivity was measured for one monaural system condition (NOSO) and two binaural system conditions (NOSπ and NOSM) using the probe-frequency method originated by Greenberg and Larkin [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 44, 1513–1523 (1968)]. Subjects were first trained to detect a 500-Hz tone in noise for each condition of the experiment. Following training, the usual detection paradigm was altered such that on 25% of the trials a second signal of a different frequency was substituted for the 500-Hz signal. Performance at each of these secondary or probe-frequencies was transformed into equivalent decibels of attenuation by means of psychometric functions obtained at 500 Hz. A correction was then applied to these data which compensated for the relationship between frequency and the size of the MLD. The transformed and corrected data were interpreted as describing attenuation characteristics of an internal auditory filter. No systematic difference was found between attenuation characteristics for the two binaural system conditions. However, the attenuation characteristics for the binaural system conditions were approximately twice as wide as those for the NOSO condition.

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