MONAURAL DETECTION WITH CONTRALATERAL CUE (MDCC) .1. BETTER THAN ENERGY DETECTOR PERFORMANCE BY HUMAN OBSERVERS

Human observers were given a monaural detection task. Information in the form of a “cue” derived in some manner from the signal was presented simultaneously to the other ear. The signal and the cue always had the same timing and spectral characteristics and were samples of low pass filtered noise. The cue was always presented in each possible signal interval, whether or not the signal itself was presented. Different cue conditions were used, in which the cue bore different amounts of information relevant to the signal. When the cue and signal were independently generated but identically timed and filtered, performance was indistinguishable from the no cue control condition, and was like that of an inefficient energy detector using a filter matched to the signal bandwidth. When the cue was an identical replica of the signal, performance was much better than that of an ideal energy detector and, for bandwidths less than 1600 Hz, approached that of an equally inefficient likelihood ratio detector for signal known exactly. Efficiency in both cases was of the order of 25% 30%. When the cue was derived from the signal but passed through a wide band 90° phase shifter, it provided an intermediate amount of information, and detection performance was also at an intermediate level. The results are taken to show that when relevant information is available to the detection mechanism, it can be used; and that the usual finding of energy detector like monaural performance is due to lack of more precise information about the signal at the detector. © 1969, Acoustical Society of America. All rights reserved.