INTENSITY-WEIGHTED AVERAGE OF INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY AS A MODEL FOR FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION

The intensity-weighted average of instantaneous frequency (IWAIF) is d eveloped as a model to predict listener performance in tasks primarily requiring frequency discrimination. IWAIF is closely related to the e nvelope weighted average of instantaneous frequency (EWAIF) model prop osed by Feth for similar tasks. The primary difference is that the IWA IF model uses intensity (envelope squared) as the weighting function i nstead of the envelope. The advantages of IWAIF over EWAIF are that (a ) it has a convenient frequency domain interpretation; and (b) it is m uch simpler to compute than the EWAIF. The IWAIF is the ''center of gr avity'' of the energy spectral density function of the signal.