On the Minimum Audible Angle

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Abstract
The difference limen for the azimuth of a source of pure tones was measured as a function of the frequency of the tone and the direction of the source. Tone pulses between 250 and 10 000 cps were sounded in the horizontal plane around the head of a subject seated in an anechoic chamber. The smallest angular separation that can be detected between the sources of two successive tone pulses (the minimum audible angle) was determined for each of three subjects. These threshold angles are analyzed in terms of the corresponding threshold changes in the phase, time, and intensity of the tone at the ears of the subject. A comparison of these thresholds with those reported for dichotic stimulation indicates that the resolution of the direction of a source is determined, at frequencies below about 1400 cps, by interaural differences in phase or time, and at higher frequencies by differences in intensity. When the conditions are optimal for temporal discrimination, the threshold for an interaural difference in time is about 10μsec, and when the conditions are optimal for intensity discrimination, the threshold for an interaural difference in intensity is about 0.5 db.

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