Hearing masks sounds before they occur via slower and faster sensory build-up times

Evidence

Premasking, however, represents an effect that is unforeseen because it appears during a time before the masker is switched on. This does not mean, of course, that our hearing system is able to listen into the future. Rather, the effect is understandable if one realizes that each sensation - including premasking - does not exist instantaneously, but requires a build-up time to be perceived. If we assume a quick build-up time for loud maskers and a slower build-up time for faint test sounds, then we can understand why premasking exists. The time during which premasking can be measured is relatively short and lasts only about 20 ms. Post masking, on the other hand, can last longer than 100 ms and ends after about a 200- ms delay. Therefore, post masking is the dominant non-simultaneous temporal masking effect. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 488

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• DEFINE: Explains the mechanism behind the counterintuitive premasking phenomenon.
• XREF: Connects to the ‘build-up time’ of neural sensation and forward masking in auditory neuroscience literature.

Related

• A masker can mask sounds occurring before it is switched on. (similarity 0.95)
• Premasking arises from the buildup time of sensation, not foreknowledge (similarity 0.94)
• Postmasking can last up to 200 milliseconds after a masker ends (similarity 0.89)
• Masking can occur even when the masker follows the test sound in time. (similarity 0.87)
• Sounds mask both preceding and following sounds but forward masking dominates. (similarity 0.87)
• A following loud sound reduces the loudness of an earlier short sound (similarity 0.87)
• Sounds mask both preceding and following sounds in time (similarity 0.86)
• Forward masking persists up to 200 ms after the masker ends (similarity 0.86)
• Forward masking reveals how the ear’s perceptual representation of sound decays over time (similarity 0.86)
• Forward masking measures temporal processing between distinct sounds. (similarity 0.85)
• Temporal masking patterns comprise simultaneous, post, and premasking effects (similarity 0.85)
• Non-simultaneous masking lets sounds mask others at temporal offsets, not only together (similarity 0.85)
• Masking thresholds can be transformed into time functions of specific loudness (similarity 0.85)
• Masking occurs before, during, and after a masker is present. (similarity 0.84)
• Post masking outlasts premasking and asymmetrically distorts threshold patterns. (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Sound masking extends in time before and after the masker #expands (0.95) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1606
• Sounds mask both preceding and following sounds in time #expands (0.90) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1016
• Sounds can mask both slightly earlier and later probe sounds #expands (0.90) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1019
• Masking experiments infer auditory representation from masker effects on signals. #corroborates (0.80) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 441
• Sound perception decays slowly and can mask a following sound #expands (0.80) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 942
• Forward masking measures temporal processing between distinct sounds. #expands (0.75) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1044