Ear dominance in the perception of conflicting pitch sequences

Abstract

Subjects were presented with a sequence of two tones differing in frequency in one ear, and at the same time a sequence of another two tones in the other ear. A low-high frequency sequence in one ear was always presented with a high-low sequence in the other ear, and the subject was asked to report which pitch sequence he heard. If the frequency difference was the same in each ear (e.g., 1650 Hz–1750 Hz in one ear and 1750 Hz–1650 Hz in the other), then subjects always reported the sequence in one particular ear, which was defined as their dominant ear. If the frequency difference in the dominant ear was progressively reduced (e.g., 1690 Hz–1710 Hz in the dominant ear and 1750 Hz-1650 Hz in the other), a point was reached where subjects changed over to reporting the pitch sequence in their nondominant ear. This change was very sensitive to changes in the frequency difference, but very insensitive to intensity differences between the two ears. These results are discussed in relation to experiments on ear dominance in the perception of dichotic chords [R. Efron and E. W. Yund, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 59, 889–898 (1976)].