On the ability to discriminate Gaussian-noise tokens or random tone-burst complexes

This study investigated factors that influence a listeners’ ability to discriminate Gaussian-noise stimuli in a same-different discrimination paradigm. The first experiment showed that discrimination ability increased with bandwidth for noise durations up to 100ms. Duration had a nonmonotonic influence on performance, with a decrease in discriminability for stimuli longer than 40ms. Further experiments investigated the cause for this performance decrease. They showed that discriminability could be improved when using frozen-noise tokens and by instructing listeners to focus on the stimulus endings. A final experiment, using a stimulus consisting of 5ms Hanning-windowed tone-bursts randomly distributed over time, investigated whether stimulus duration and amount of information differently affect the processing capacity of the auditory system. Results showed that the number of degrees of freedom in the stimulus, not its duration, predominantly influenced the ability to discriminate. Overall, the results sug...