Interval scaling of virtual sound sources when listening with one ear
Abstract
When listening monaurally to sounds of xed level, listeners can discount the “un-natural” in nite interaural level difference (ILD) and use loudness cues to determine the azimuthal location of a sound source. Here, we investigated the ability to use a spectral shape cue to indicate the azimuthal location of a virtual sound source. Subjects positioned a visual pointer to indicate the relative similarity between the target stimulus (a random-level multi-tone stimulus with a parametrically varied bandwidth and spectral density) and a perceptual anchor. For all of the bandwidths and spectral densities tested, the correlation between the responses of the subjects and the source’s azimuth exceeded 0.22, with a maximum of 0.81. In contrast, the correlation between the subjects’ responses and the stimulus levels were near zero. A linear decision model that utilized the spectral shape of the perceptual anchor as a template accurately predicted the dependence of subjects’ responses on the source location. Overall, the psychophysical results coupled with the model predictions suggest that subjects can ignore uninformative ILD information and use spectral shape information to determine the azimuthal location of a sound source when the sources’ level is random.
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