Re: Why is high high? (Harry Erwin )

Subject: Re: Why is high high?
From:    Harry Erwin  <herwin(at)OSF1.GMU.EDU>
Date:    Thu, 27 Aug 1998 14:51:34 -0400

The human and bat literature discuss elevation estimation based on the
movement of a 'notch' in wide-band intensity spectra. This notch, a band of
frequencies where the intensity is weaker than usual, is created by
multipath interference in the pinnae.  The upper and lower boundaries of
this notch change with elevation, and there is experimental evidence that
elevation may be estimated in humans by detecting the notch movement
relative to the background spectrum.  The effect of the notch movement is
apparently to make high-pitched sounds sound high and low-pitched sounds
sound low.  I'm investigating a slightly different but related hypothesis
in my dissertation research, but do not have conclusive results as yet.

Harry Erwin, Internet: herwin(at)gmu.edu, Web Page: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~herwin
Senior Software Analyst supporting the FAA, PhD candidate in computational
neuroscience--modeling how bats echolocate--and lecturer for CS 211 (data
structures and advanced C++).

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