Discrimination of sound source velocity in human listeners

The ability of six human subjects to discriminate the velocity of moving sound sources was examined using broadband stimuli presented in virtual auditory space. Subjects were presented with two successive stimuli moving in the frontal horizontal plane level with the ears, and were required to judge which moved the fastest. Discrimination thresholds were calculated for reference velocities of 15, 30, and 60 degrees/s under three stimulus conditions. In one condition, stimuli were centered on 0 degrees azimuth and their duration varied randomly to prevent subjects from using displacement as an indicator of velocity. Performance varied between subjects giving median thresholds of 5.5, 9.1, and 14.8 degrees/s for the three reference velocities, respectively. In a second condition, pairs of stimuli were presented for a constant duration and subjects would have been able to use displacement to assist their judgment as faster stimuli traveled further. It was found that thresholds decreased significantly for all velocities (3.8, 7.1, and 9.8 degrees/s), suggesting that the subjects were using the additional displacement cue. The third condition differed from the second in that the stimuli were "anchored" on the same starting location rather than centered on the midline, thus doubling the spatial offset between stimulus endpoints. Subjects showed the lowest thresholds in this condition (2.9, 4.0, and 7.0 degrees/s). The results suggested that the auditory system is sensitive to velocity per se, but velocity comparisons are greatly aided if displacement cues are present.