EFFECT OF GATING THE MASKER ON FREQUENCY-SELECTIVE LISTENING

When presented with variable-frequency tones in a continuous random-noise masker, observers detect the most frequently presented tone (the target tone) better than other infrequently presented tones (probe tones). The present paper shows that the detection of the probe tones improves, and detection of the target tone worsens, when the masker is gated a few hundred milliseconds before the signal onset. The results suggest that the observers are led to listen for several bands when the masker is gated.