A detection-theoretic framework for modeling informational masking

There has been growing interest in recent years in masking that appears to have its origin at a central level of the auditory nervous system--so-called informational masking (IM). Masker uncertainty and target-masker similarity have been identified as the two major factors affecting IM; however, no theoretical framework currently exists that would give precise meaning to these terms necessary to evaluate their relative importance or model their effects. The present paper offers a first attempt at such a framework constructed within the doctrines of the theory of signal detection.