Pulsation patterns of sinusoids vs. critical band noise

Pulsation patterns of both sinusoidal and critical band "maskers" at f _M = 400 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, and 4 kHz are compared. At the slope towards low frequencies, the pulsation pattern of a sinusoid is up to 30 dB lower than the pattern of a critical band noise; at the upper slope, only small differences (4 dB) are noticed. Variations in the temporal configuration of the stimulus yield a great variety of pulsation patterns for one and the same "masker." Therefore, the interpretation of pulsation patterns as a quantitative measure of the ear's frequency selectivity is still obscure. On the other hand, a comparison of pulsation patterns of different "maskers," measured with one and the same stimulus paradigm, seems to be useful.