Level effects in monaural and interaural intensity discrimination

Abstract

Discrimination of interaural level differences (ILDs) is often assessed using a two-interval task in which ILD changes between intervals. In such a situation, overall level is usually roved in order to minimize monaural cues. This roving makes it difficult to assess level-dependent effects. In the present experiment, monaural intensity discrimination in a 2IFC task was compared to ILD discrimination in a single-interval task, thus producing an analogous situation in terms of number of ‘‘observations’’ and eliminating the need for an overall level rove. Monaural intensity DLs and ILD discrimination thresholds were measured as a function of level for 4-kHz tones and for broadband noise. The Weber functions (10<th>logΔI/I vs I in dB) in the monaural and binaural conditions were parallel. For the noise the Weber functions had slopes close to zero (Weber’s law); for the tones the slopes were −0.082 (near-miss to Weber’s law). Overall, the binaural thresholds showed a small, approximately 2 dB, advantage over the monaural thresholds. The important aspect, however, is that the level effects seen monaurally are also seen binaurally. This suggests that the basic processes responsible for Weber’s law and the near-miss occur prior to binaural interaction. [Work supported by NIDCD DC05343 and DC00683.]