Observations on the shape of hearing sensations in pure-tone lateralization

Abstract

In certain conditions, especially with diotic headphone presentation, hearing sensations are located inside the head. Dichotic headphone presentation can result in lateralization: delaying one of the headphone input signals or reducing its amplitude typically pushes the hearing sensation inside the head towards the contralateral ear. Systematic connections between physical stimulus parameters and hearing-sensation properties provide insight into auditory-localization mechanisms and are helpful in designing and evaluating models thereof. While various studies on the lateral displacement of hearing sensations exist, fewer data is available on the respective shape or spatial extent. Based on observations from a pure-tone lateralization experiment, this study aims at taking a first step towards quantifying the typical shape of the corresponding hearing sensations: in two separate experiments, twelve normal-hearing subjects reported a) the overall spatial extent of the hearing sensation or, if applicable, of all simultaneously occurring sensations and b) the number of simultaneously occurring, spatially separated hearing sensations. The data suggests, in line with earlier studies, considerable differences between the results for pure interaural phase and amplitude differences, respectively. Based on the results, an initial empirical description of the stimulus-dependent hearing sensations in pure-tone lateralization summarizes the observations, especially regarding location and spatial shape.In certain conditions, especially with diotic headphone presentation, hearing sensations are located inside the head. Dichotic headphone presentation can result in lateralization: delaying one of the headphone input signals or reducing its amplitude typically pushes the hearing sensation inside the head towards the contralateral ear. Systematic connections between physical stimulus parameters and hearing-sensation properties provide insight into auditory-localization mechanisms and are helpful in designing and evaluating models thereof. While various studies on the lateral displacement of hearing sensations exist, fewer data is available on the respective shape or spatial extent. Based on observations from a pure-tone lateralization experiment, this study aims at taking a first step towards quantifying the typical shape of the corresponding hearing sensations: in two separate experiments, twelve normal-hearing subjects reported a) the overall spatial extent of the hearing sensation or, if applicable, of a...