Similar frequencies mask each other by competing for the same cochlear location.
Evidence
These physiological measures have strong implications for masking, as we observe that a single cochlear location responds to multiple frequencies. Thus, if two frequencies are presented to the ear and they are similar to each other, these two frequencies will vibrate some of the same cochlear locations. We can think of this phenomenon as two tones competing for the same location on the cochlea, and the tone with the greater response would be the dominant one. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 437
Categorization
- DEFINE: Explains the mechanism behind masking: place-on-basilar-membrane competition, tying physiology directly to the perceptual phenomenon.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 437
- XREF: connects to: Each masker dominates masking only within its own frequency region.; Loud low-frequency tones mask high frequencies more than high tones mask low.