Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete
Hearing is confronted by a similar problem to vision when the observer moves. The image motion that is created remains ambiguous until the observer knows the velocity of eye and/or head. One way the visual system solves this problem is to use motor commands, proprioception and vestibular information...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Psychological Association
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38680/ |
| _version_ | 1848795666582601728 |
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| author | Freeman, Tom Culling, John Akeroyd, Michael A. Brimijoin, W. Owen |
| author_facet | Freeman, Tom Culling, John Akeroyd, Michael A. Brimijoin, W. Owen |
| author_sort | Freeman, Tom |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Hearing is confronted by a similar problem to vision when the observer moves. The image motion that is created remains ambiguous until the observer knows the velocity of eye and/or head. One way the visual system solves this problem is to use motor commands, proprioception and vestibular information. These ‘extra-retinal signals’ compensate for self movement, converting image motion into head-centred coordinates, though not always perfectly. We investigated whether the auditory system also transforms coordinates by examining the degree of compensation for head rotation when judging a moving sound. Real-time recordings of head motion were used to change the ‘movement gain’ relating head movement to source movement across a loudspeaker array. We then determined psychophysically the gain that corresponded to a perceptually-stationary source. Experiment 1 showed that the gain was small and positive for a wide range of trained head speeds. Hence listeners perceived a stationary source as moving slightly opposite to the head rotation, in much the same way that observers see stationary visual objects move against a smooth pursuit eye movement. Experiment 2 showed the degree of compensation remained the same for sounds presented at different azimuths, although the precision of performance declined when the sound was eccentric. We discuss two possible explanations for incomplete compensation, one based on differences in the accuracy of signals encoding image motion and self-movement, and one concerning statistical optimisation that sacrifices accuracy for precision. We then consider the degree to which such explanations can be applied to auditory motion perception in moving listeners. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:35:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-38680 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:35:43Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | American Psychological Association |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-386802020-05-04T18:21:11Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38680/ Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete Freeman, Tom Culling, John Akeroyd, Michael A. Brimijoin, W. Owen Hearing is confronted by a similar problem to vision when the observer moves. The image motion that is created remains ambiguous until the observer knows the velocity of eye and/or head. One way the visual system solves this problem is to use motor commands, proprioception and vestibular information. These ‘extra-retinal signals’ compensate for self movement, converting image motion into head-centred coordinates, though not always perfectly. We investigated whether the auditory system also transforms coordinates by examining the degree of compensation for head rotation when judging a moving sound. Real-time recordings of head motion were used to change the ‘movement gain’ relating head movement to source movement across a loudspeaker array. We then determined psychophysically the gain that corresponded to a perceptually-stationary source. Experiment 1 showed that the gain was small and positive for a wide range of trained head speeds. Hence listeners perceived a stationary source as moving slightly opposite to the head rotation, in much the same way that observers see stationary visual objects move against a smooth pursuit eye movement. Experiment 2 showed the degree of compensation remained the same for sounds presented at different azimuths, although the precision of performance declined when the sound was eccentric. We discuss two possible explanations for incomplete compensation, one based on differences in the accuracy of signals encoding image motion and self-movement, and one concerning statistical optimisation that sacrifices accuracy for precision. We then consider the degree to which such explanations can be applied to auditory motion perception in moving listeners. American Psychological Association 2016-11-14 Article PeerReviewed Freeman, Tom, Culling, John, Akeroyd, Michael A. and Brimijoin, W. Owen (2016) Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43 (2). pp. 371-380. ISSN 1939-1277 hearing motion perception head rotation http://psycnet.apa.org/psycarticles/2016-55068-001 doi:10.1037/xhp0000321 doi:10.1037/xhp0000321 |
| spellingShingle | hearing motion perception head rotation Freeman, Tom Culling, John Akeroyd, Michael A. Brimijoin, W. Owen Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete |
| title | Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete |
| title_full | Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete |
| title_fullStr | Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete |
| title_full_unstemmed | Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete |
| title_short | Auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete |
| title_sort | auditory compensation for head rotation is incomplete |
| topic | hearing motion perception head rotation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38680/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38680/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38680/ |