Monaural and binaural speech intelligibility and the stereophonic effect based upon temporal cues

Abstract

A stereo tape was prepared using three talkers separated in 30 degree azimuth steps. Nine ways of connecting the two channels to the two ears were devised, and administered to normal ears and to monaurally defective individuals. Four principles of binaural interaction were enunciated: The Principle of Binaural Gain, the Principle of Redundancy, the Principle of Blurring, and the Principle of Degradation. These principles consider the advantage of a second neural channel, a second 'look' at the stimulus with the same ear, confounding results from receiving information in one ear from noncongruent points in space, and the disadvantage of mixing signals from a normal ear and one in which signals are garbled as a result of a pathological condition. In any one person, speech intelligibility will be the algebraic resultant of whatever principles are operating at the moment.