Perceptual asymmetries in the discrimination of brief auditory time intervals

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine whether perceptual asymmetries would emerge in a task requiring the discrimination of two auditory time intervals. The first interval (standard) was presented binaurally and the other one (comparison) monaurally. The intervals were either filled (continuous sound) or empty (duration between two brief sounds). A total of 24 right-handed participants (12 women, 12 men) completed the four conditions (two Ear×two Structure). The results revealed that filled intervals were perceived as shorter when the monaural signal was presented to the left ear than when it was presented to the right ear, whereas there was no ear effect for empty intervals. Interval structure was not a significant factor when the monaural signals were delivered to the right ear, suggesting a right ear advantage in duration estimation. Finally, temporal sensitivity was better with empty than with filled intervals, but this effect was independent of the location of the monaural signals. The results are discussed with reference to potential effects of attention and the role of structural aspects underlying perceptual asymmetries.

Effect of sequential comparison on active processing of sound duration

“…This interpretation is also supported by the higher hit rates during presentation of tones to the right ear than to the left ear. This left-lateralized processing corresponds to several other studies suggesting left-lateralized processing of duration during a categorization Puschmann et al, 2013] or comparison task [Brancucci et al, 2008;Grondin et al, 2011;Mills and Rollman, 1979;Reiterer et al, 2005]. A previous study also showed an involvement of the left and right AC in duration categorization [Angenstein and Brechmann, 2013a].…”

“…For example, in tasks requiring a direct comparison of the duration of two sounds, the majority of studies suggest a left‐lateralized processing ([Brancucci et al, ; Grondin et al, ; Mills and Rollman, ; Reiterer et al, ] but see Bueti et al []). In contrast, studies in which the duration of sounds could be evaluated in a categorical manner led to controversial results with left lateralized [Brechmann and Scheich, ; Puschmann et al, ] or right lateralized results [Angenstein and Brechmann, ; Buchtel et al, ].…”

“…Previous studies on lateralized processing in active tasks regarding sound duration showed controversial results. Psychoacoustic studies suggest either a left-lateralized [Brancucci et al, 2008;Grondin et al, 2011;Mills and Rollman, 1979] or right-lateralized [Buchtel et al, 1978] processing of sound duration. A transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study showed that the right superior temporal gyrus is important for sound duration processing [Bueti et al, 2008].…”

“…There is no straightforward explanation of these differences since the studies used largely different stimuli, measurement protocols, and tasks, which all may contribute to differences in lateralization. For example, stimulus-based hypotheses on lateralized processing of temporal fine structure of sounds [Poeppel, 2003;Zatorre et al, 2002] do not solely explain the differences because studies with small [Grondin et al, 2011;Mills and Rollman, 1979] and large temporal differences [Brancucci et al, 2008;Brechmann et al, 2007;Puschmann et al, 2013] suggest a left lateralized involvement in duration processing. Thus, the task in conjunction with a given stimulus may be the driving force for the lateralization of processing [Angenstein and Brechmann, 2013a;Brechmann and Scheich, 2005;Scheich et al, 2007;Zatorre and Gandour, 2008].…”

The effect of mild depression on time discrimination

“…In our initial analyses, we found that left-handedness, albeit with only 9 participants, seemed to have a significant influence on the effect of duration on discrimination performance, F(1, 72) = 4.13, p = .04, η 2 = .05, with those who were left-handers producing higher long thresholds (M = 203.5 ms, SE = 28.4) than right-handers (M = 140.8 ms, SE = 9.9) but not short thresholds. Given that there is some evidence that laterality has an influence on time perception with the right hemisphere being related to visual information processing and left hemisphere to specialized timing processes (see Grondin & Girard, 2005;Grondin, Voyer, & Bisson, 2011;Polzella, DaPolito, & Hinsman, 1977), we decided to exclude data provided by left-handed participants from further analysis in order to reduce this noise in the data rather than attempt to account for the added variability statistically.…”