Audibility of short-duration tone-glides as a function of rate of frequency change

Thresholds for rising and falling tone-glides were determined against a background of 50–6000 Hz noise at a level of 60 dB re 20 μPa. Glides were centered around 2000 Hz and changed frequencies linearly at rates of 24, 48, 96 and 192 Hz/ms; tone-glide durations were 5, 10, 20 and 40 ms. Results demonstrate a rate-dependent asymmetry in the detectability of rising and falling tone-glides, with rising tone-glides detected at lower signal intensities for the higher rates of frequency change (i.e., 96 and 192 Hz/ms).