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An online headphone screening test based on dichotic pitch
Alice E Milne1, Roberta Bianco2, Katarina C Poole2
1Ear Institute, University College London, 332 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8EE, UK. a.milne@ucl.ac.uk.
Behavior Research Methods
|December 10, 2020
Summary
A new Huggins Pitch (HP) headphone screening test accurately identifies 80% of online auditory experiment participants using headphones. Combining HP with other tests further reduces false positives, ensuring reliable headphone use in research.
Area of Science:
- Auditory perception research
- Online experimental psychology
- Human-computer interaction
Background:
- Online auditory experiments require control over participant listening environments.
- Headphone use is critical for sound presentation control and noise reduction.
- Existing headphone screening tests have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a rapid (<3 min) headphone screening test for online auditory experiments.
- To validate the new Huggins Pitch (HP) test against an existing auditory perception (AP) test.
- To assess the effectiveness of combining the HP test with other methods for improved accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Developed a dichotic listening test based on the Huggins Pitch (HP) phenomenon.
- Recruited "Trusted" online participants to complete the HP test with headphones and loudspeakers.
- Compared the HP test performance against an existing AP test and a beat test (BT).
Main Results:
- The HP test demonstrated higher selectivity for headphone users compared to the AP test.
- The HP test correctly identified 80% of headphone users with a 20% false-positive rate.
- Combining the HP test with the AP or BT test reduced the false-positive rate to approximately 7%.
Conclusions:
- The Huggins Pitch (HP) test is a viable and effective alternative for screening headphone use in online auditory research.
- Combining the HP test with other methods significantly enhances the reliability of headphone use detection.
- This method is particularly valuable for studies involving dichotic or spatial auditory manipulations.
