Summary
Auditory thresholds were determined for cod (Gadus morhua) using a cardiac conditioning technique. Pure tone stimuli were presented against a background of high level white noise. As the bandwidth of the masking noise was reduced the threshold: noise ratio remained approximately constant until a critical bandwidth was reached, when the threshold: noise ratio declined. The width of the critical band was investigated by experiments where pure tone thresholds were determined in the presence of narrow bands of noise centred at different frequencies. Thresholds declined with increasing frequency separation between the stimulus and noise band. The masking function obtained can be described in terms of an equivalent rectangular filter of finite width. Values for the critical bandwidth derived in this way show a general increase with stimulus frequency, ranging from 59.0 Hz wide at 40 Hz, to 165 Hz wide at 380 Hz. These values are close to calculated values (critical ratios) determined from the results of earlier experiments, where pure tone stimuli were masked by broad band noise.
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Hawkins, A.D., Chapman, C.J. Masked auditory thresholds in the cod,Gadus morhua L.. J. Comp. Physiol. 103, 209–226 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00617122
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00617122