Eye movements in auditory space perception

The hypothesis tested was that reports of auditory position are in part determined by target-directed eye movement. Using a signal recognition paradigm, we show that sensitivity to the position right or left of a tone decreases when the subject keeps his eyes fixed (Experiment I). We also show (Experiments II and III) that sensitivity declines considerably if the subject’s eye movement is cues away from the tone either by a light source or by an instruction to the subject. Since providing the subject with a tactile spatial cue does not bias reports of auditory position (Experiment III), we argue that eye movement serves to update and stabilize auditory position memory. Finally, we argue that voluntary movement rather than a visual map (Warren, 1970) is likely to provide the framework for spatial judgments.

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