Abstract:
The Franssen effect was studied as a function of the frequency of the source and echo sounds, the difference in frequency and level between the source and echo sounds, and as a function of the amount of room reverberation. A modification of the single-interval procedure used by Hartmann and Rakerd [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 86, 1366--1373 (1989)] was used to measure the degree to which the source and echo sounds were fused in terms of determining the location of the perceived sound. The amount of fusion was a nonmonotonic function of frequency, decreased as the frequency and level difference between the echo and source increased, and is greater for a room with more reverberation. The results will be discussed in terms of the precedence effect, listener's prior experience, and the plausibility hypothesis. [Work supported by a Program Project Grant from NIDCD and a grant from the AFOSR.]