Dynamic Auditory Localization

Abstract

The purpose of this expt. was to determine how small a binaural intensity difference can be discriminated in a situation approximating that experienced in every-day life. By means of mechanical coupling movements of the head were made to move the contacts of potentiometers in such a way as to produce differences in intensity in earphones held against the ears of the subject, who was asked to "point his nose at the sound." Pure tones of 200 and 2000 cps were used. ". . . Pure tone localizations on the basis of intensity disparity show almost 10-fold the size of the errors found under natural conditions. Unless leakage artifacts, under the Wilson and Myers postulate, produce larger intensity errors than is realized, it seems that there must be some other cue for localization than pure ''intensity effect.''".