Abstract
Localization of low-pass sounds was tested in relation to aspects of Wallach’s (1939, 1940) hypotheses about the role of head movement in front/back and elevation discrimination. With a 3-sec signal, free movement of the head offered only small advantage over a single rotation through 45° for detecting elevation differences. Very slight rotation, as observed using a 0.5-sec signal, seemed sufficient to prevent front/back confusion. Cluster analysis showed that, in detecting elevation, some listeners benefited from rotation, some benefited from natural movement, and some from both. Evidence was found indicating that a moving auditory system generates information for the whereabouts of sounds, even when the movement does not result in the listener facing the source. Results offer significant if partial support for Wallach’s hypotheses.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Blashfield, R. K. (1976). Mixture model tests of cluster analysis: Accuracy of four agglomerative hierarchical methods.Psychological Bulletin,83, 377–388.
Gardner, M. B. (1973). Some monaural and binaural facets of median plane localization.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,54, 1489–1495.
Hebrank, J., &Wright, D. (1974). Spectral cues used in the localization of sound sources on the median plane.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,56, 1829–1834.
Kuhn, G. F. (1987). Physical acoustics and measurements pertaining to directional hearing. In W. A. Yost & G. Gourevitch (Eds.),Directional hearing (pp. 3–25). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Middlebrooks, J. C., &Green, D. M. (1991). Sound localization by human listeners.Annual Review of Psychology,42, 135–159.
Middlebrooks, J. C., Makous, J. C., &Green, D. M. (1989). Directional sensitivity of sound-pressure levels in the human ear canal.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,86, 89–108.
Mills, A. W. (1972). Auditory localization. In J. V. Tobias (Ed.),Foundations of modern auditory theory (pp. 303–348). New York: Academic Press.
Perrett, S., &Noble, W. (1995). Available response choices affect localization of sound.Perception & Psychophysics,57, 150–158.
Pollack, I., &Rose, M. (1967). Effect of head movement on the localization of sounds in the equatorial plane.Perception & Psychophysics,2, 591–596.
Thurlow, W. R., &Mergener, J. R. (1970). Effect on stimulus duration on localization of direction of noise stimuli.Journal of Speech & Hearing Research,13, 826–838.
Thurlow, W. R., &Runge, P. S. (1967). Effect of induced head movements on localization of direction of sounds.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,42, 480–488.
Wallach, H. (1939). On sound localization.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,10, 270–274.
Wallach, H. (1940). The role of head movements and vestibular and visual cues in sound localization.Journal of Experimental Psychology,27, 339–368.
Woodworth, R. S., &Schlosberg, H. (1954).Experimental psychology (2nd ed.). London: Methuen.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The research reported here was supported in part by grants from the Australian Research Council and the UNE Arts Faculty Research Fund.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Perrett, S., Noble, W. The contribution of head motion cues to localization of low-pass noise. Perception & Psychophysics 59, 1018–1026 (1997). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205517
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205517