A within-subject comparison of remote and in-laboratory methods for auditory detection studies

Abstract

While the gold standard of psychoacoustic research involves tightly controlled, laboratory-based inquiry, it has been necessary to develop protocols to conduct experiments on auditory perception outside of the lab without sacrificing experimental rigor and data quality. Outside of the lab, there is the potential for differences in acoustic environment across subjects, as well as increased auditory and visual distractions. The present study compares the difference in performance on a masked auditory detection experiment within the same cohort of subjects across two platforms of varying experimental control: (1) an in-lab, computer-based experiment conducted within a sound booth; and (2) a remote, tablet-based experiment conducted with provided noise-isolating headphones in an uncontrolled—but measured—acoustic environment. Comparisons in performance across experimental platforms and settings will be discussed, including the influence of a concurrent visual task to encourage task focus, and the effect of background noise levels on performance in the remote setting. Results suggest that there was little influence of the setting and equipment on subjects’ performance in this masked auditory detection study, as similar results were obtained in both settings. This work aims to provide guidance on best-practices for conducting remote acoustic studies without a detriment to data quality.