Dichotic sequence discrimination: The effect of stimulus intensity and background noise level

Abstract

Dichotic temporal discrimination of clicks over the range of separation of 2 ≤ Δt ≤ 96 msec is nonmonotonic, being V- or U-shaped with two maxima, one at very short separations (†t≤4 msec) and one at long separations (Δt ≥ 64 msec). Decreasing the level of the stimuli or increasing the level of background noise results in an overall decrement in discrimination level and a widening of the base of the function to make it more U-shaped. These effects are expressed in shorter Δt thresholds for the left limb of the function and longer Δt thresholds for the right limb of the function © 1981 Psychonomic Society, Inc.