Asymmetrical analysis of stimuli with dichotically split formants
M. P. Haggard · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1975
Six split-formant /ba/—/da/ stimuli were constructed, differentiated by opposed or reduced F2 and F3 transition cues to place. These were synthesized with common F0 but F1F2 and F1F3 fed to different ears. F2 alone differentiated three of the possible stimulus pairings, and F3 differentiated three, enabling the ear underlying the response distribution to be specified. There were more “b” than “d” responses, and more pairings were off phoneme boundary when the critical cue stimulated the left ear. Bias-free measures on pairings close to boundary showed no greater differentiation of F2 or F3 pairings by the right ear, suggesting no asymmetry of primary auditory analysis. However, in individual stimuli with conflicting F2 and F3 cues, the cue presented to the right ear tended to control the response. This result, plus the asymmetrical bias, suggests that dichotic components of a speech pattern take different (presumably contralateral) paths to the speech processor even when spectral compatability and common voice source predispose subjective fusion.