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Nature Research, Scientific Reports, 1(7), 2017

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17429-4

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Numerical value biases sound localization

Journal article published in 2017 by Edward J. Golob, Jörg Lewald ORCID, Stephan Getzmann ORCID, Jeffrey R. Mock
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

AbstractSpeech recognition starts with representations of basic acoustic perceptual features and ends by categorizing the sound based on long-term memory for word meaning. However, little is known about whether the reverse pattern of lexical influences on basic perception can occur. We tested for a lexical influence on auditory spatial perception by having subjects make spatial judgments of number stimuli. Four experiments used pointing or left/right 2-alternative forced choice tasks to examine perceptual judgments of sound location as a function of digit magnitude (1–9). The main finding was that for stimuli presented near the median plane there was a linear left-to-right bias for localizing smaller-to-larger numbers. At lateral locations there was a central-eccentric location bias in the pointing task, and either a bias restricted to the smaller numbers (left side) or no significant number bias (right side). Prior number location also biased subsequent number judgments towards the opposite side. Findings support a lexical influence on auditory spatial perception, with a linear mapping near midline and more complex relations at lateral locations. Results may reflect coding of dedicated spatial channels, with two representing lateral positions in each hemispace, and the midline area represented by either their overlap or a separate third channel.