The effect of bone conduction on the intensity independence of dichotic chords

Abstract

The relative salience of the pitch components of a two-tone dichotic chord is invariant with respect to the relative intensity of the two tones over a wide range of interaural intensity differences [R. Efron and E. W. Yund, J. Acoust, Soc. Am. 889--898 (1976)]. According to a recently developed model, the range of intensity independence is limited by the bone-conducted energy from the more intense tone [E. W. Yund and R. Efron, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62, 607--617 (1977)]. The model predicts that a decrease in bone conduction such as the one achieved by using insertion earphones, must increase the range of intensity independence. This prediction is confirmed.