Echolocation by moving and stationary listeners

It has long been known that human listeners can echolocate a sound reflecting surface as they walk towards it [e.g., Supa et al., Am. J. Psychol. 57, 133–183 (1944)]. There is also evidence that stationary listeners can determine the location, shape, and material of nearby surfaces from reflected sound [Rice, Science 155, 656–664 (1967)]. The current research tested whether there is an advantage of listener movement for echolocating as has been found for localization of emitted sounds [Ashmead et al., J. Exp. Psychol.: Hum. Percept. Perform. 21, 239–256 (1995)]. Two groups of blindfolded subjects were asked to echolocate a 3×6 ft wall while either moving or stationary. After echolocating, the wall was removed, and subjects were asked to walk to where the wall had been. Subjects in the moving and stationary groups echolocated for the same amount of time and for each of four distances. Results showed that moving group subjects were more accurate than stationary group subjects for some distances. These resul...