Spatial Localization and Auditory Lateralization: Binaural Cues and Their Absence

Abstract

In 1990 Cheatham suggested there might be a right-ear advantage for the perception of speech and music for right-handed individuals, which confirms Kinsbourne's observation of a general right-ear advantage. These findings, however, contrast with Segalowitz and Plantery's work that supports attentional bias in lateralized processing of these stimuli. The attentional bias model has also been criticized by Bryden on the basis of its circularity. At present there has not been sufficient evidence to settle this debate empirically. The author suggests that the controversy may best be resolved by disentangling the folklore surrounding spatial localization and auditory lateralization to reexamine this field in light of recent empirical findings by Bryden and by Porac, Coren, and Duncan, who inferred an inherent rightward bias to many kinds of stimulation, including auditory, in right-handed individuals. The present focus is that Cheatham's 1990 data lend themselves more readily to the rightward bias that occurs in right-handed subjects and not to previous structural or attentional models.