Is there an auditory detection “pop-out” for moving tones in the presence of static noise maskers?

Abstract

Stationary visual targets often become far more salient when they move against an otherwise static background—the so-called “pop out” effect. In the second of two experiments, we tested for a similar pop-out effect in the auditory domain. Tone-in-noise detection thresholds were measured using a 2-down 1-up adaptive procedure under conditions where the target was stationary or moved via amplitude-panning. Target frequencies of 500 Hz and 4 kHz were tested. Maskers (2–4, depending on the condition) were independent Gaussian noises filtered to have equal energy per octave. All target and masker stimuli were 500-ms duration. Listener performance was compared between conditions where target and maskers were co-located or positioned separately for conditions when the target word was amplitude-panned across the loudspeaker array and in others when the target remained stationary. Results will be presented and discussed.Stationary visual targets often become far more salient when they move against an otherwise static background—the so-called “pop out” effect. In the second of two experiments, we tested for a similar pop-out effect in the auditory domain. Tone-in-noise detection thresholds were measured using a 2-down 1-up adaptive procedure under conditions where the target was stationary or moved via amplitude-panning. Target frequencies of 500 Hz and 4 kHz were tested. Maskers (2–4, depending on the condition) were independent Gaussian noises filtered to have equal energy per octave. All target and masker stimuli were 500-ms duration. Listener performance was compared between conditions where target and maskers were co-located or positioned separately for conditions when the target word was amplitude-panned across the loudspeaker array and in others when the target remained stationary. Results will be presented and discussed.