Clinical masking directly applies Fletcher’s critical band theory

Evidence

Sound of a given frequency can block our ability to hear softer sounds at nearby frequencies, but distant frequencies are not affected. The threshold for detecting the softer sound is raised by the presence of a louder sound within the same critical bandwidth. Even if the softer sound is audible, it will not seem as loud as it would if played alone. Similarly, two tones that fall within the same critical bandwidth will appear to be less loud together than two tones of the same total energy that fall outside each others’ critical bandwidths. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fletcher defined critical bands as noise regions whose power equals a just-masked tone’s — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 865; Critical bandwidth is measured through masking effects rather than direct perception — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 585; Noise fluctuations within narrow critical bands raise the masking index (+6 more)

Related

• Fletcher defined critical bands as noise regions whose power equals a just-masked tone’s (similarity 0.93)
• There is a critical bandwidth beyond which adding noise power no longer increases masking (similarity 0.89)
• Psychophysical tuning curves map masker level needed to just mask a fixed tone. (similarity 0.88)
• Critical bandwidth is measured through masking effects rather than direct perception (similarity 0.88)
• Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected (similarity 0.88)
• The critical-band-rate scale mirrors hearing better than raw frequency (similarity 0.86)
• Masked threshold of a tone by white noise is computable from critical-band level (similarity 0.86)
• Auditory masking depends only on energy within a band surrounding the signal. (similarity 0.85)
• Clinical maskers must be wider than the critical band to work (similarity 0.85)
• Masking by bandlimited noise depends only on masker energy within the critical band. (similarity 0.85)
• Noise fluctuations within narrow critical bands raise the masking index (similarity 0.85)
• Critical bandwidth marks the perceptual shift from rough to smooth tone resolution (similarity 0.84)
• Masking effectiveness depends only on masker power inside the critical band. (similarity 0.84)
• Large FM deviations escape narrow-band masking by drifting into unmasked frequency ranges (similarity 0.83)
• Masked threshold rises once noise bandwidth exceeds the critical bandwidth (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Masked threshold of a tone by white noise is computable from critical-band level #exemplifies (0.88)
• Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected #expands (0.85) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009
• Psychophysical tuning curves map masker level needed to just mask a fixed tone. #exemplifies (0.82)
• Noise fluctuations within narrow critical bands raise the masking index #expands (0.80)
• Auditory masking spread can be modelled by convolving with a spreading function #expands (0.80)
• Critical bandwidth is measured through masking effects rather than direct perception #complicates (0.78) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 585
• The excitation-level model of masking reproduces measured thresholds at both low and high frequencies #expands (0.78)
• Masking operates on a continuous scale between audible and fully masked. #qualifies (0.75)