Modulation patterns are known to carry critical predictive cues to signal detection in complex acoustic environments. The current study investigated the persistence of masker modulation effects on postmodulation detection of probe signals. Hickok, Farahbod, and Saberi (Psychological Science, 26, 1006–1013, 2015) demonstrated that thresholds for a tone pulse in stationary noise follow a predictable periodic pattern when preceded by a 3-Hz amplitude modulated masker. They found entrainment of detection patterns to the modulation envelope lasting for approximately two cycles after termination of modulation. The current study extends these results to a wide range of modulation rates by mapping the temporal modulation transfer function for persistent modulatory effects. We found significant entrainment to modulation rates of 2 and 3 Hz, a weaker effect at 5 Hz, and no entrainment at higher rates (8 to 32 Hz). The effect seems critically dependent on attentional mechanisms, requiring temporal and level uncertainty of the probe signal. Our findings suggest that the persistence of modulatory effects on signal detection is lowpass in nature and attention based.

众所周知，调制模式可以为复杂声学环境中的信号检测提供关键的预测线索。目前的研究调查了掩蔽调制效应对探测信号的调制后检测的持久性。Hickok、Farahbod 和 Saberi（心理科学，26, 1006–1013, 2015) 证明，在 3-Hz 调幅掩蔽器之前，固定噪声中的音调脉冲阈值遵循可预测的周期性模式。他们发现调制包络中检测模式的夹带在调制终止后持续大约两个周期。目前的研究通过映射时间调制传递函数以实现持续调制效应，将这些结果扩展到广泛的调制速率。我们发现对 2 和 3 Hz 的调制率有显着的夹带作用，在 5 Hz 时效果较弱，在更高的速率（8 到 32 Hz）下没有夹带。这种效果似乎严重依赖于注意力机制，需要探测信号的时间和水平不确定性。