The role of envelope statistics in detecting changes in interaural correlation.

The role of envelope statistics in binaural masking-level differences (BMLDs) and correlation change detection was investigated in normal-hearing listeners. Thresholds and just-noticeable differences (JNDs) were measured for different bandwidths and center frequencies (500, 2000, 4000, and 8000 Hz) using Gaussian noises (GNs) and low-fluctuation noises (LFNs). At a 500-Hz center frequency, GN NoSo thresholds were higher than, NoSπ thresholds were lower than, and correlation change detection JNDs were the same as LFN thresholds and JNDs. At higher center frequencies, GN NoSπ thresholds were the same or higher than LFN thresholds and GN correlation change detection JNDs were much smaller than LFN JNDs. Using a pulsed sine vocoder, a second experiment was performed to investigate if binaural adaptation might contribute to the difference in GN and LFN detection. There was no effect of pulse rate, thus providing no clear evidence that binaural adaptation plays a role in these tasks. Both a cross-correlation model and a model that utilized the fluctuations in the interaural differences could explain a majority of the variance in the LFN correlation change JNDs.