RESIDUAL MASKING AT LOW FREQUENCIES 1115

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
data for this subjectfor a soundpressurelevel of 110
db are shownin the two columnsto the right. For a
given subjectand for a given order of presentation,
the spreadin the data is very small.But note that for
two of the subjects(V.B. and J.D.), the 250-cpstone
was judged to be significantlylouder when it was
presentedsecondin each of the A-B sequences than
when it was presentedfirst. This was observedcon-
sistentlyat both the 90 and 110db levelsof the 250-cps
tone, even though the possibilityof systematicerror
had been eliminated.
The assistanceof Winston L. Nelson, Miss Carmen
Hurtado, Dr. Eda Berger, and A. B. Grundy, Jr., who
designedthe specialelectronicdevicesrequired,tested
the over-all system,and made many of the preliminary
measurements,as well as the measurementscontained
in this paper,is gratefullyacknowledged.
The kind
cooperationof a number of our Laboratory personnel,
who acted as subjects, is appreciated. The author
wishesto thank W. A. Munson for many stimulating
discussions
concerningthe subjectmatter.

THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA VOLUME 31, NUMBER 8 AUGUST, 1959

Masking Patterns of Tones

RICHARD H. EHMER
U.S. Naval Medical ResearchLaboratory, U.S. Naval SubmarineBase, New London, Connecticut
(Received October 9, 1958)

Monaural maskingpatternswere obtainedfor pure tonesspacedby octavesfrom 250 cpsto 8000 cpsat
20-100 db SL on three listenersin an attempt to provide extensivedata assessing
the relative importance
of aural harmonicsand cochlearspreadof maskingtone activity in the extensionof maskingto frequencies
above the maskingtone. The maskingpatterns confirm and extend the resultsof others, but especially
indicatethat secondpeaksdo not necessarilyoccurat the secondharmonicof the maskingtone.The masking
patternsare explainedin termsof (1) the activity pattern of the maskingtone in the cochlea,(2) beats
betweensignaland maskingtones, (3) aural harmonics,and (4) suppression of cochlearresponseto the
signal.

on the mechanicalmovement of the cochlea,of Tasaki,

HEmasking
bypattern
example, ofaLane
Wegel and tone
1has
andbeenused,for
•' Davis, and Legouix5 in cochlearmicrophonics,and of
by Fletcher,
to infer the pattern of activity setup by the tonein the Tasaki6 in the electrical responsesof single auditory
cochlea.The maskingpattern is not a measureof the nerve fibers.
cochlearactivity but only an indicator because,aside Althoughthe resultsof Wegeland Lane,• whichhave
from the fact that psychophysical data are usedto infer servedas the basisfor most discussions
of masking,are
physiological activity,the eardistortsloudtones,intro- very extensive,they are not sufficientlydetailed to
ducingharmonicsnot presentin the stimulus.In addi- evaluate an alternative mechanism for extended mask-
tion, the maskingtone interactswith the signaltones ing. The presentexperimentattempts to provide suffi-
used to measureits maskingpattern, producingbeats ciently detailed maskingpatterns for a representative
and difference tones. sampleof frequenciesand intensitiesto choosebetween
Inferencesof cochlearactivity made from masking aural harmonicsand cochlearspreadas the mechanisms
patternsmust agreewith inferences madefrom other of extendedmasking,and, in general,to permit a finer
psychophysical data, and especiallywith more direct analysisof the mechanisms underlyingmasking.
observationsof the physiologicalprocesses inferred.
Thus, the commonassumptionthat aural harmonics METHOD

are entirelyresponsible for the unsymmetrical extension

Monaural maskingpatternswere obtainedfor pure
of maskingto high frequencies is broughtinto question
tonesspacedby octavesfrom 250 cpsthrough8000 cps
by the demonstrationby Egan and Klumppa of the at 20-100 db sensationlevel (SL) on three listeners.
maskingof aural harmonicsand by physiological evi- Two of the listenershad normalhearing,and that of the
denceof asymmetryin the responseof the auditory
third wasnormalexceptfor a 15-dbdip at 1800cps.
mechanismto tonesas shownby the resultsof B•k•sy4
The signaltonesweregenerated by a B•k•sy audiom-
• R. L. Wegeland C. E. Lane, Phys.Rev. 23, 266-285 (1924). eter,7passedthroughan electronic
switchwhichturned
2 H. Fletcher,Speechand Hearing in Communication (D. Van
NostrandCompany,Inc., New York, 1953),pp. 153-175. 5Tasaki, Davis, and Legouix,J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 24, 502-519
aj.p. Egan andR. G. Klumpp,J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 23, 275-286 (1952).
(1951). 6I. Tasaki, J. Neurophysiol.17, 97-122 (1954).
4 G. von B•k•sy, J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 21, 245-254 (1949). 7S. N. Reger,Laryngoscope 62, 1333-1351(1952).

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14:20:19
 1116 RICHARD
them on for 200 msec and off for 200 msec without
audible transients,and then deliveredto a PDR-8 ear-
phonemountedin an MX-41/AR cushion.The B•k•sy
audiometeralso recordedthe frequencyand intensity The masking patterns are shown in Figs. 1-6. The
of the signaltonesduringthe experiment.For masking, extent of intensity variations in the recordsused for
a constant tone from another oscillator was mixed elec-
trically with the signaltones.
In determiningthe maskingpatterns, first the abso-
lute thresholdwas recordedstarting at the low fre-
quencyend of the range.Next the listener'sthreshold
for the maskingtonewasfound.Then a seriesof masked
thresholdswas obtainedwith the maskingtone set at
successively higherlevels.
Maskingpatternswerecalculatedby drawingsmooth
curvesthroughthe midpointsof the intensityvariations
on the recordsand measuringthe differencesbetween
absoluteandmaskedthresholds at 15 pointsper octave.
The extent of the intensity variations was minimized,
and thereforethe precisionin determiningthe threshold
maximized,by adjustingratesof frequencyand attenu-
ation change.Frequencyratesof either 2 or 4 min per
octavecombinedwith attenuationratesof 1 or 2 db per
sec were used exceptat 100 db SL where 1 min per
octaveand 3 db per secwereusedto minimizehearing
lossfrom exposureto the maskingtone.
The listener's criterion of threshold also affects the
variability of the results.Variability from this source
wasreducedby interruptingthe signaltonesand by the
instructions. The listeners were instructed to allow the
intensity of the tonesto increaseuntil they couldjust
detectthem and then to pressa button whichdecreased
their intensity until they couldno longerfollow them
clearly.In the maskingseriesthe listenerswere told to
respondto any soundswhichmaintainedthe sametime
pattern.
The listenersalsoreportedthe characteror identity
of the soundsheard during the masking series.These
reportswerecoordinated
with indications
placedon the
records at the time both were made.
And finally, to comparethe resultsobtainedwith a
B•k•sy audiometerwith thoseobtainedby conventional
methods,suchas usedby Wegel and Lane• and Egan
and Hake,8 thresholdsand maskedthresholdswere ob-
tained for one listenerfor fixed maskedfrequenciesof
1050, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800,
1900, 1950,2050, and 2100 cpsfor a maskingfrequency
of 1000cpsat 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, and 85 db SL. The
equipmentwas essentiallythe sameas that described
in the foregoingexceptfor the substitutionof a fixed
frequencyoscillatorand a discrete1-dbper stepatten-
uator for the B•k•sy audiometer. The listener first
determinedhis absolutethresholdfor the tonal seriesby
the method of adjustmentsand then repeated these
determinationswith the masking tone presentat suc-
cessivelyhigherlevels.
8j. ?. Egan and H. W. Hake, J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 22, 622-630
0950).
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H. EHMER
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Masking Patterns
computingthe maskingpatternsseldomexceeded3 db
exceptat 100db SL wherea fasterattenuationrate was
used. Variation among runs and among listenerswas
greater, but the averagemasking curvespreservethe
characteristic features of the individual records.
Comparisonof the curvesof Figs. 1-5 showsthat 250
cpsproducesmaskingpatternssomewhatdifferentfrom
thoseof the other four frequencies.At 250 cps all the
curvesare relatively smoothand regularand not sym-
metrical even at the lowestmaskinglevel.
At the otherfrequencies the curvesare symmetricalat
20 and 40 db SL, but clearlydepart from symmetryat
60 db and above.The asymmetryis broughtaboutby
the failure of maskingto spreadfurther to lower fre-
quencieswhile it increases rapidly in both amountand
extent at higherfrequencies.At 60 db SL there is little
or no maskingat the harmonicfrequencies, but despite
this lack, the maskingcurvesare not smooth; the ex-
treme caseis the sharpsecondpeak in Fig. 4.
At 80db thereis a rapidincreasein extendedmasking.
At this level a secondpeak is foundin all the curvesof
Figs. 2-5. It has moved closerto the secondharmonic,
but it does not always coincidewith this frequency
althoughthisis not altogetherapparentin Figs.2 and4.
The migrationof the secondpeak is mostrapid between
60 and 80 db. Only at 100 db do the secondpeaksfall
at the harmonic.At this level peaksmay alsoappearat
the third harmonicas in Figs. 1, 3, and 4.
The 100-db curve of 4000 cps (Fig. 5) is somewhat
anomalous.It showsdownwardspreadof maskingfor
two octavesand a pronounced secondpeak at 6000cps,
a frequencywhich is not a harmonicof the masking
tone. The samesort of downwardspreadoccursfor a
maskingtone of 8000 cps (Fig. 6).
i•: The masking patterns just describedare in good
agreementfor corresponding maskingfrequenciesand
intensities,even to the occurrenceof secondpeaks at
nonharmonicpositions, with the results of other
writers9-nusingsimilarmethods.In generalthe masking
patternsare similarto thoseof WegelandLane,• except
for the positionsof the secondpeaks.The secondpeak
in our results emergesclearly only for masking fre-
quenciesof 1000cpsandhigher,and thusthe only com-
parablefrequencybetweenour studyand that of Wegel
and Lane is 1200 cps. Their Fig. 4 showsextended
maskingat 60 db SL, but no secondpeak either at the
secondharmonicor at any otherfrequency.On the basis
of our results,a secondpeakwouldbe expectedat about
9 G. de Mar• and G. R•Ssler,Acta Oto-Laryngol.35, 179-190
(1950).
•0H. Bauch, Acustica6, 494-511 (1956).
n R. Feldtkeller and E. Zwicker, Das Ohr als IYachrichten
Empfi•nger(S. Hirzel, Stuttgart, 1956), pp. 13-19.
 MASKING PATTERNS OF TONES 1117

IOO , i i , i [

100
t '
80
, • , • , 80-

03 -
I00

.c- 60-

•_
60 8o o•
.5
,,', 40
_

•: _

20-

I00 2 - 80•00 %0 Ao 5•o ,ooo •ooo 4c•o 8o'oo

Frequency •n Frequency In CPS

Fro. 1. Averagemaskingpatternsfor 250 cpsbasedupon three Fro. 4. Averagemaskingpatternsfor 2000 cpsbasedupon two
listeners.The sensationlevel of the maskingtone is attached to listeners.The sensationlevel of the maskingtone is attachedto
each curve. each curve.

I00 ' , , I ,

• 100[
' ' ' ' ' !t 80-

sø
I
.E 60-
IOO
03
o 60-
_

I00

c_ _
C- -

o 40 ..• 40-

20- 20
_

%0 O,oo •o •o •oo •ooo 4000 8000

Frequency In CPS Frequency in CPS
,

Fro. 2. Averagemaskingpatternsfor 500 cpsbasedupon three Fzc,.5. Averagemaskingpatternsfor 4000 cpsbasedupon three
listeners.The sensationlevel of the maskingtone is attached to listeners.The sensationlevel of the masking tone is attached to
each curve. each curve.

ioo -- I I I I i [ '

i i i i 8o

6O

L• 4O

20
ioo

o ', ß i i i I
ioo 250 500 I000 2000 4O0O 8OO0 250 500 I000 2000 4000 80 O0
Frequency •n CP$ Frequency •n C PS

Fro. 3. Averagemaskingpatternsfor 1000cpsbaseduponthree Fro. 6. Masking pattern for 8000 cps at 100 db SL
listeners.The sensationlevel of the maskingtone is attachedto for a singlelistener.
each curve.

1600 cpsin their data but they made no observations
at this frequency.
At 80 db Wegeland Lane do providesufficientdata
to_fixthe secondpeak at the secondharmonic.This is
not surprisingbecausein our data 80 db is the level at
whichthe migrationof the peak to the secondharmonic
is nearlycomplete.For a maskingtoneof 1000cpsone
of our listenersregularly showeda broad flat-topped
peak centeredat 2000 cpswhileanothershoweda peak
at about 1800cpson one occasionand at 1900 cpson
another.
That a possiblesourceof differencein resultsis not
the differencebetweenusingthe B&klsyaudiometerand
fixedmaskedfrequencies is shownby Fig. 7. Here fixed
masked frequencieswere used and the curves show
clearly the progressivemigration of the secondpeak
towardsthe harmonicas the maskingtoneis raisedfrom
55 through85 db SL.
Auditory Characteristics of the Signal
under Masking
Throughoutthe frequencyrange of this experiment
the signalswhenpresentedalonepossessdefinitetonal

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14:20:19
 1118 RICHARD H. EHMER

7O
are not displacedby the tone but by beatswith a dif-
ferent basic quality which are interpretedto be beats
6O with the aural secondharmonic.There may be a fairly
broad transition zone between these two kinds of beats
\ \•, ,-.-
..-..,,, ..• g
or there may be a quick changefrom the one to the
5O \',,
\ \_ \',,,
,,.,.-,, • • ,,.-- 5 •950 other.At 70 and80 db SL of themaskingtone,thebeats
with the harmonicpass through the same phasesas
those with the masking tone itself as the signal ap-
õ40 • k'\ / ". .... z5 •00 proachesand proceedsbeyond the secondharmonic,
\\ \',--_,' until they in turn are replacedby the signalwith tonal
• 3o ' --,,, - 7O 15O0
quality. Althoughthesebeatsare heardin the vicinity
of the secondharmonic,the harmonicis not audibleby
itself at theselevels.Only at 100 db SL doesthe second
20
harmonicof the maskingtone becomeclearly audible.
The soundsheardin the octavebetweenthe masking
I0
toneandits harmonics,exceptin the immediatevicinity
of thesetwo frequencies,have been regardedby pre-
1300 vious workers•.2 as difference tones. However, in the
55 1300
presentexperimentdifferencetoneswereneveridentified
0 (•
9_- ':;r U3 LO
o
OO 03
to too
INCPS below80 db SL of the maskingtone and even at 80 db
only when the maskedthresholdwas near its summit
FIO. 7. Maskingof discretefrequencies
by 1000cps closeto the maskingfrequency.Differencetoneswere
for a singlelistener.
heardmore often when the maskingtone wasat 100 db
SL but by no means throughout the entire range of
quality even when they fall in the atonal interval. masking.Often at this level the opportunity for dis-
Wheneverthey are subjectedto an appreciableamount tinguishingbeats and differencetoneswas affordedby
of masking,however,they losetheir tonal quality for theirbeingpresentsimu!taneously. In suchcasesbeats
the listener seekinghis threshold.Sincethe character- wereidentifiedby their waveringor roughness whichis
istics reported in this experimentdiffered somewhat similar to thoseattributes heard at much lowermasking
from those reportedby others, they are given in the levels,whilethe differencetoneswereidentifiedby their
followingmaterialbecausethey are usefulin elucidating tonal quality which is similar to low frequencypure
the nature of masking.Only the predominantaspects tones. When beats and difference tones were heard to-
are reported. gethertheir thresholdsoften were the same,or differed
At maskinglevelsup to and including60 db SL, the by only a few decibels,sothat the maskedthresholdwas
signalsmaintain their tonal quality everywhereexcept only slightly affectedby usingone or the other as the
in the vicinity of the maskingfrequency.In thisvicinity criterionfor the signal.
two kinds of beatsare heard: waveringbeatsand fused The reasonfor identifying the interactionsof signal
beatsor roughness. Waveringbeatsare heard when the and maskingtonesas differencetonesinsteadof fused
signal and the masking tone are separatedby a few beats seemsto have been twofold. First, sinceharmonic
cyclesper second:the soundheardconsistsof a loudness distortionwas thought to be occurring,it seemedplau-
modulationof the maskingtone,the rate beingequalto sible to assume that intermodulation distortion was also
the frequencydifferencebetweenthe two tones.Fused taking place, and hence,that any soundheard in the
beats are heard at greater frequencydifferences:the placeof the signaltonewasan intermodulationproduct,
waveringbecomestoo fast for the fluctuationsin loud- namely, a differencetone. And second,from the pub-
ness to be analyzed out and the tone soundsrough, lishedvalues•2-•4for the frequencydifferencelimits for
sometimesto the point that the roughness may be the beats, it seemedthat theselimits were exceededwhen
predominantaspectof the sound. the interaction soundscould still be heard. However,
The rangeof waveringbeatsis the sameabove and note that the publishedvalues for the limits of beats
below the frequencyof the maskingtone. Fused beats were obtainedonly for the caseof two tonesof equal
are heard for a broader frequency range above the intensities;it is apparentfrom the presentfindingsthat
maskingtone than below.Above the frequencyof the beatscan be obtainedfor greaterfrequencydifferences
maskingtone they are heard as the maskedthreshold when the two tonesproducingthem are not of equal
decreases. At 20 and 40 db the transition from beats to
intensities,the most favorableconditionfor beatsbeing
tone pitch doesnot producea changein slopeof the
maskingcurve. But at 50 and 60 db SL the changein •2A.M. Mayer, Phil. Mag. 37, 259-288 (1894).
sound from beats to tone is associated with the shoulder n E.G. Wever, Psychol.Rev. 36, 402-418, 512-523 (1929).
•4j. C. R. Licklider in Handbookof ExperimentalPsychology,
or secondpeak of the maskingcurve. edited by S.S. Stevens (John Wiley & Sons,Inc., New York,
At higherlevelsof the maskingtone, the fusedbeats 1951).

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 MASKING PATTERNS OF TONES 1119

when the secondtone is higher in frequencyand just add to the amount of masking,and then the factors
above its masked threshold. In fact, under these con- determiningmaskingwouldbe the sameasbroughtout
ditionsthe beatscan often be eliminatedby raisingthe in the discussionabove but with respect,of course,to
secondtone considerablyabove its maskedthreshold. the harmonic and not the fundamental.
This findingoffersfurther supportfor the identification The foregoingproposalsare compatiblewith what is
of thesesoundsas beats: if they were differencetones, knownof the physiological activity in the cochleaand
then raisingthe intensityof the secondtone wouldgive auditorynerve.Tasaki,Davis, andLegouix5haveshown
a strongerdifferencetone, not eliminateit altogether. that low tonesproducecochlearmicrophonics through-
out the cochleabut that with higher and higher tones
Mechanisms of Masking thereis shrinkageof the responseareatowardsthe base
of the cochlea. When two tones are combined there is
The maskingpatternsmustbe accountedfor in terms only a partial separationof their microphonics
in the
of the possiblemechanismsof auditory masking.First, turns of the cochlea.The sameprinciplesof tuning as
what determines the frequency range of masking? seenin the cochlearmicrophonicsare manifestin the
Clearly at low maskinglevels (20 and 40 db SL) the responsesof single auditory fibers.0,•5 In addition,
only determinantcan be the cochlearactivity pattern Katsuki et al. • have furnished evidence of the nature of
of the masking tone. Even at 60 db SL, excluding masking:a pure tone producesspikesin a singlefiber
perhaps250 cps,wherethere is a cleardeparturefrom at a characteristicrate, but when a low tone is alsopre-
symmetry and well-developedsecondpeak in somein- sentedand raisedin intensity,the rate becomeschanged
stances,but very little maskingat the secondharmonic, over to that characteristicof the low maskingtone. It
still the activity of the maskingtone itself must be con-
is to be emphasized that inhibitionor reductionof re-
sidered as the sole determinant of the extent of the
sponsewasneverobservedby eitherTasakiøor Katsuki
maskingpattern. The sameargumentmay be extended' etal.• sothat the mechanismof this maskingseemsonly
to includemaskingat 80 and 100 db SL. The evidence to be the overridingof the stimuluseffectsof the signal
of the presentstudy is that up to 80 db the second by the maskingtone. Responsesto beats were also
harmonicwas not audible even when the height of the shown to confirm the observations of Galambos and
masked thresholdwould seem to require the second Davis•ø at the cochlearnucleus.When beats are slow,
harmonicto be 70 db aboveits threshold(Fig. 3, 80 db). severalspikesappearduringthe maximum,whilethere
This evidence,along with the findingsof Egan and is silenceor reducedresponseduring the minimum;
Klumppa which showedmasking of the aural second when the beat rate is faster, a singleimpulsemay be
harmonicby the fundamental,indicatesthat the activ- evoked during each cycle of the beats.•s Thus, the
ity pattern extendsinto and beyondthis region. patternof impulsesindicatesthe beat rate and not the
If the cochlearactivity pattern of the maskingtone characteristic frequencyof the stimulus,suchasis ordi-
determinesthe extentof masking,thenwhat determines narily the casewhen a singlepure tone is presented. 6
the amount of masking?First, in the vicinity of the Thisfindingprovidesa physiological foundationfor the
maskingfrequency,what may be calleddirect masking, widespread occurrence of beatsin our listeners'reports.
the activity of the maskingtone is responsible,but the The sameupperfrequency-difference limit may thus
height of the maskingpattern doesnot truly showthe be assumedfor beats as for the preservationof the
amount of activity because,as Wegal and Lane• first periodicityof pure tonesin the auditory nerve fiber
reportedand Egan and Hakea showedin fine detail, discharge,namely, about 2000.6,•7 This supposition
there is interactionbetweenthe signaland the masking permitsan explanationof the peculiaroccurrence in the
tones.The rangeof direct maskingextendsfrom some 100-dbcurveof Fig. 5, the peakat 6000cpsfor a mask-
point on the steep portion of the masked threshold ing tone of 4000 cps' the frequencylimits for beats
curve below the maskingtone to the dip or shoulder between4000 cpsand the signalwereexceeded causing
above the masking tone: this amounts to almost an the thresholdto rise, only to be againdepressed as the
octave in someinstances,as at 80 db SL. signaltonecamewithin rangeof beatswith the second
At the conclusionof the region of beats, when the harmonic(8000cps)whichis manifestlypresentat this
pitch of the signalreturns(up to 60 db SL of the mask- level.The possibilitythat the peakarosefroman actual
ing tone), the maskingpattern is thought to reflect 6000-cpstoneproducedby a subharmonic of the 4000-
accurately the level of masking-toneactivity in the cpsmaskingtone interactingwith either the masking
cochlea.Even at 80 db masking level, the masked tone or secondharmonicto producea summationor
thresholdprobablydependson the activity level of the differencetone must be discardedbecauseno 6000-cps
masking tone, disregardingthe beats between signal tone was heard either aloneor throughbeats.
toneand auralharmonicashereloweringthe threshold,
since the second harmonic is masked and becomes
•5Katsuki, Sumi, Uchiyama,and Watanabe,J. Neurophysiol.
audibleonly throughthesebeats. 21, 569-588 (1958).
•oR. Galambosand H. Davis, J. Neurophysiol.?, 287-303
Only at 100 db SL, where the aural harmonicsare (1944).
audibleby themselvesis it thoughtthat the harmonics •7H. Davis, Physiol.Rev. 37, 1-49 (1957).

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14:20:19
 1120 RI CHARD
Similarly, a subharmoniccannot be invoked to
explainthe downwardspreadof maskingfrom 4000cps
or 8000 cps at 100 db SL sinceno subharmonicwas
heard, there were no beatsheard near the subharmonic
frequency,and therewasno peakat this frequency.At
present,it cannotbe saidthat this downwardspreadof
maskingis a resultof spreadof the masking-toneactiv-
ity towardsthe apex of the cochleasincesuchhas not
been observed.It is not remote masking, since this
resultsfrom detectionof the envelopeof the stimulusin
the cochlea)8Thereis just onephysiological observation
of this effect, the reduction of action potentials to a
500-cpstonepip as a 6950 tone wasraisedfrom 100 to
120 db, but this also causeda drop in cochlearmicro-
phonics)8 Thus, the mechanismfor this effect is dif-
ferent from that of the other maskingdemonstratedin
this paper,and seemsto involveinterferenceor inhibi-
tion of some sort.
CONCLUSIONS
The maskingpattern of a pure tone resultsprimarily
from the activity pattern of the tone in the cochlea.At
low intensities,the cochlearactivity is confinedto a
local regionand the maskingpattern is narrow. As the
masking intensity increases, the cochlear activity
•8Deatherage,Davis, and Eldredge,J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 29,
132-137 (1957).
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14:20:19
H. EHMER
spreadsonly towardsthe base,while retaininga maxi-
mum at the locusof originalresponse, and the masking
pattern extendsunsymmetrically to highfrequencies.
Auraldistortionplaysa muchsmallerrolein masking
than had previouslybeen supposed.Aural harmonics
are not responsible for the extensionof maskingto the
octavesabovethe maskingtone sincethey are, for the
mostpart, maskedthemselves by the fundamentaltone
activity. Only at t00 db SL do theseharmonics emerge
sufficientlyabovetheir maskedthresholdsto add mask-
ing to that resultingfrom the maskingtone itself.
Similarly aural differencetones also have lesseffect
on maskingpatterns.They do lowerthe maskedthresh-
old, but thisagainis at 100db SL andfor shortranges
at 80 db SL.
For the most part what have previouslybeen called
differencetonesare really fusedbeats, and it is these
fused beats that are heard in the interval above the
maskingtone betweenthe end of waveringbeats and
the returnof the characteristic
pitchof the signal.These
beatsdepressthe thresholdby amplitudemodulating
the maskingtone.
The mechanismof the maskingdescribedin the fore-
goingresultsfrom the overlapof the maskingtone and
signalin the cochlea.Anotherkind of masking,down-
wardspread,occurswith highfrequencymaskingtones.
This appearsto result from a differentmechanism,in-
terference or inhibition.