Lecture 2:

Lecture 10:
Hearing

PSYC 2220 M: Sensation & Perception I

CB 121, Fridays, 11:30 AM
Instructor: Raphael Gastrock
Sound localization
Sound localization
• How do we know where the sound is coming
from?
• Depending on the source of the sound:
• Sound reaches each ear at different
timepoints
• Sounds reaching the closer ear will be more
intense
Interaural time difference
(ITD)
• The difference in time that a sound arrives at
one ear versus the other
Interaural time difference
(ITD)
• Imagine a circle extending in a horizontal
plane around your head (azimuth)
Interaural time difference
(ITD)
• Maximum difference is around 640 µs
• Humans can detect differences as small as 10
µs = 1 degree in azimuth
threshold
ITD physiology
• Input from auditory nerves in each ear reach
the brain stem
• Medial Superior Olive (MSO) is the first
binaural stage of the auditory system
• Firing rates of neurons in MSO increase when
they receive ITD inputs – ITDs encoded in MSO
ITD physiology
Ladder theory
• Differences between the lengths of axons
coming from the two ears provide a time delay
to detect small time differences
• No real evidence for this
ITD physiology
Interaural frequency differences
• It takes time for sound wave to travel from
high to low frequencies along basilar
membrane of cochlea
• Differences in frequencies across two ears are
used to measure time
Interaural level difference
(ILD)
• The difference between intensities of sound at
one ear versus the other
• Sounds are more intense at the ear closer to
the source, as the head partially blocks sound
pressure waves
Interaural level difference
(ILD)
• Properties for ILD have a lot of similarities with
ITD
• Sounds are more intense at the ear closer to
the source
• ILD is largest directly to the right or left of the
ears (+/- 90 degrees in azimuth). There is 0
ILD when source is directly in front or behind
• ILD correlates with the angle of sound source.
BUT, the shape of your head makes this less
precise than in ITDs
Interaural level difference
(ILD)
• However, the head
blocks high-frequency
sounds more than low-
frequency sounds
• Occurs for
frequencies higher
than 1000 Hz
• Low-frequency
sounds wrap
around the head
Interaural level difference
(ILD)
• Question: You just purchased a new sound
system for your living room, which includes a
subwoofer. Where is it optimal to place the
subwoofer?
• Subwoofer plays very low (bass) frequencies
• Since low frequencies do not produce ILDs, it
doesn’t matter where the subwoofer is placed
ILD physiology
• Lateral superior olive (LSO) process intensity
differences between the two ears
• Excitatory connections to LSO come from
ipsilateral ear
• Inhibitory connections from contralateral ear
Cones of confusion
• Notice how ITDs (and ILDs) can be the same from
some positions (e.g. 60 and 120 degrees)
• A region of positions in space where all
sounds produce the same time and
intensity differences
Cones of confusion
• Sounds do not just come
from the same plane as
azimuth, but also has
elevation
• This leads to a whole
region (cone) where you
may confuse the source
of the sound
• Solution: turn your head
• ITDs and ILDs will shift;
compare before and
after turning
Pinnae and head cues
• Another cue for sound localization
• Pinna funnels sound energy into ear canal
• Shape of pinna determines which frequencies
are funneled more efficiently than others
• Shape of upper body also affects which
frequencies reach each ear more easily
• Intensity of each frequency varies with direction
(sound intensity vs. direction)
• This variation provides the other cue for
localization
• Intensity changes measured with directional
transfer function (DTF)
Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function (DTF)
• Measure that describes how the pinna, ear
canal, head, and torso change the intensity of
sounds with different frequencies that arrive at
each ear from different locations in space (both
azimuth and elevation)
Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function (DTF)
• How it is measured:
• Participant sits in an anechoic room (room where
floors and walls are padded – sounds cannot bounce
off the walls)
• Speakers located in all directions relative to listener
(up, down, all around)
• Tiny microphones placed near tympanic membrane
(eardrum)
• Play sounds from different places in the room
• Measure how much energy from different
frequencies reach the eardrum
Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function (DTF)
Result:
• Although the speaker
produced the same
intensity for different
frequencies
• Notice how intensities
differed at the eardrum
for different
frequencies
• But, we also add in
elevation
Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function (DTF)
Result:
• If we move the speaker
up or down, we see
changes in intensities
of different frequencies
(as both elevation and
azimuth changes)
The point is:
• Relative intensity of
different frequencies
creates a sense of
direction
Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function (DTF)
• Is different for different people (unique/
individualized)
• Changes throughout development (head and ear
size change, ears can change shape)
Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function (DTF)
• Listening to music in a live
concert versus in-ear
headphones
• Live concert: can pinpoint where
the instrument is being played
from (piano to the left, guitar
from the right)
• In-ear headphones: while it is
possible to mimic ITDs and ILDs,
DTFs are not simulated (pinnae,
ear canal, head and body shape
are bypassed)
• Music from headphones sound
like they are coming from inside
Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function (DTF)
• Can we create a sense of direction in recordings?
• Binaural recording
• Two microphones placed at ear drums, sound
source is recorded in these microphones
• Play the recording and listener perceives
sound as if they were coming from the outside
world
• Works better if tailored to one’s unique DTF
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Auditory distance
perception
• Although we are good at determining sound
direction, we are not as good at judging sound
distances
• We are best at judging the distance to a sound
source when it is about 1 meter away
• < 1 m = overestimate distance
• > 1 m = underestimate distance
• We rely on different cues to judge distances of
sound sources
Auditory distance
perception
• Cue # 1: relative intensity
• Analogous to relative size in visual depth
perception
• Sounds become less intense with greater
distances
• For example, louder croak of a frog would
likely mean that the frog is closer
• Downside is that it opens you up to mistakes
• A softer-sounding croak could come from a
nearby frog
Auditory distance
perception
• Cue # 1: relative intensity
• But, note that we are good at determining
sound distances ~1 m away only
• Inverse-square law
• As distance from a source increases,
intensity decreases faster (decrease in
intensity = distance squared)
Auditory distance
perception
• Cue # 2: motion
• The sound source can move towards you, or
you can move through the environment
• Idea is similar to motion parallax in the visual
system
• Sounds farther away do not seem to change
direction as much as nearer sounds
Auditory distance
perception
• Cue # 3: spectral composition of sounds
• The air in the atmosphere absorbs high-
frequencies more than low-frequencies
• When a sound is farther away, higher
frequencies decrease in energy more than
lower frequencies
• We hear sounds that are far away as
“muddier”
• Change in spectral composition is only
noticeable for distances larger than 1000 m
Auditory distance
perception
• Cue # 4: direct and reverberant energy
• The sounds we hear can come directly from
the source (direct) or bounce off some surfaces
in the environment (reverberant)
• Closer sound sources will be mostly direct
energy, but sound sources farther away will be
more reverberant energy
• We compare the relative amounts of direct
and reverberant energy to judge distance
Spatial hearing and
blindness
• Does your ability to localize sounds in space
become better with severe loss of vision?
• Yes, with echolocation
• Produce sounds which bounce back to the
person, and this gives them information about
the environment
• Some blind people make clicks to sense if
something is in their way
• Expert echolocators can distinguish sizes,
shapes, materials of objects
Spatial hearing and
blindness
• Echolocation
• As visual areas in blind people are inactive,
echolocators actually use these areas to
process auditory input
Complex sounds
• Recall harmonic spectrum from previous
lecture
• Spectrum of a complex sound in which
energy is at multiples of the
fundamental frequency
• The fundamental frequency is the lowest
• Thefrequency
pitch perceived is
component of a complex
thesound
fundamental
frequency
• Higher harmonics add
to the perceived
richness, or timbre, of
sound (called
overtones by
musicians)
Complex sounds
• Illusion of the missing fundamental
• If we remove the fundamental frequency
and only play the harmonics, we still
perceive the same pitch
Complex sounds
• Illusion of the missing
fundamental
• Explained by temporal
code
• All harmonics of a
fundamental have
common fluctuations
in sound pressure at
regular intervals
corresponding to the
fundamental
frequency
• Auditory nerve and
cochlear neurons will
fire at every period
Complex sounds
• Timbre
• The ability to distinguish
two sounds, even if the
sounds have the same
loudness and pitch
• A trombone and a tenor
saxophone can play the
exact same note (same
fundamental frequency)
at the exact same
intensity, but we can still
tell the sound of these
two instruments apart
• This is driven by the
shape of the harmonics in
Complex sounds
• Attack and Decay
• Attack: The way a complex sound begins
(amplitude increases at onset)
• Decay: The way it ends (amplitude decreases at
offset)
Takeaways
• Sound localization
• Interaural time difference
• Interaural level difference
• Cones of confusion
• Pinnae and head cues
• Directional transfer function
• Auditory distance perception
• 4 cues discussed
• Echolocation
• Complex sounds
• Harmonics, missing fundamental, timbre,
attack, decay
Thank you so much for your participation in the
course!

Final Exam details:

April 16, 2025 (Wednesday)
19:00 (7:00 PM)
ACW 206
3 hours to complete (180 minutes)
Bring writing materials and student ID