[Auditory perception sluggishness during short moving sound image localization]

Displacement of the perceived position of the starting points relative to the objective one during the moving sound source localization is an example of the auditory perception sluggishness. The ability to localize starting and end points of sound image trajectories was studied in comparison with stationary sound image positions. Sound images moved gradually or abruptly to the left or right from the head midline. The subjects were asked to estimate the position of the virtual sound source, using the graphic tablet. It was revealed that the starting points shifted systematically in the direction of the sound image movement. This tendency was stronger for the gradual movement then for the abrupt shift, and for shorter stimuli (100 ms) in comparison with longer ones (200 ms). The starting point displacement magnitude depended on the final value of the interaural time delay. The findings are discussed in view of the "snapshort" and "movement detectors" theories. The representational momentum and anticipation ability of the auditory perception were also considered.