Response latency, latency-based receiver-operating characteristics, and uncertainty about interaural phase in the detection of in-phase and out-of-phase tones presented in noise.

ABSTRACT

Subjects were given the task of detecting tonal signals presented in a continuous background of white noise which was always in phase at the ears (No). The signals were either in phase (So), or phase-reversed (S pi) at the ears. The analysis of response latencies (for similar levels of performance) indicated that there were consistent differences in the processing of the two types of signals. Latencies were longer, and somewhat more variable, for S pi than for So signals. It was also found that the theory of signal detectability can contribute to an understanding of what and how decisions are made. Latencies were treated as confidence ratings in order to determine latency-based receiver operating characteristics (LROCs) for the detection task. It was observed that the LROCs for the interaural condition No-So tend to leave the origin at a steeper angle than do those for the interaural condition No-S pi, presumably reflecting the different sensory and decision processes employed in the two conditions. When the two interaural conditions were intermixed within blocks of trials, performance was slightly impaired in comparison to the situation in which the interaural condition remained constant throughout blocks of trials.