Effects of cues and modulation depth on the measurement of modulation masking pattern

This study addresses methodological issues in the modulation-masking paradigm for future clinical applications for assessing modulation filters. The aim of the paradigm is to determine a target-modulation threshold in a fixed-depth masker. Two experiments with naive normal-hearing listeners evaluated measurement efficiency and parameter settings. The first experiment examined whether providing a cue during practice improves detection task efficiency, finding no significant benefit. The second experiment compared two masker modulation depths (-5 and -10 dB) and found no significant difference in the derived modulation-tuning properties, suggesting that masker depth does not affect estimated masking threshold pattern within this range.