Subject: Re: Upside down noise From: Al Bregman <bregman(at)HEBB.PSYCH.MCGILL.CA> Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 14:43:05 -0400On Thu, 6 Aug 1998, Pierre Divenyi wrote: > > I have a different question: Von Hornbostel is credited with describing the > following situation: a bird singing (presumably sinusoidally) on a branch > is perceived as if it were flying from right to left as the frequency of > its song varies (presumably not too fast). Provided v. H. is right, how > could that phenomenon be explained? I presume there were no reflecting > surfaces near the bird. > If this is just a one-time observation of Von Hornbostel's personal experience, my first guess would be that since localization at high frequencies depends largely on interaural intensity differences, that Von Hornbostel had a frequency region of lowered sensitivity in his right ear, and as the song entered that region, the song moved to the other side. Was the observation ever confirmed with other listeners? Al McGill is running a new version of LISTSERV (1.8c on Windows NT). Information is available on the WEB at http://www.mcgill.ca/cc/listserv