From dichoptic to dichotic: historical contrasts between binocular vision and binaural hearing.
Phenomena involving vision with two eyes have been commented upon for several thousand years whereas those concerned with hearing with two ears have a much more recent history. Studies of binocular vision and binaural hearing are contrasted with respect to the singleness of the percept, experimental manipulations of dichoptic and dichotic stimuli, eye and ear dominance, spatial localisation, and the instruments used to stimulate the paired organs. One of the principal phenomena that led to studies of dichotic hearing was dichoptic colour mixing. There was similar disagreement regarding whether colours or sounds could be combined when presented to different paired organs. Direction and distance in visual localisation were analysed before those for auditory localisation, partly due to difficulties in controlling the stimuli. Instruments for investigating binocular vision, like the stereoscope and pseudoscope, were invented before those for binaural hearing, like the stethophone and pseudophone.
Wade
Nicholas J
NJ
Department of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK. n.j.wade@dundee.ac.uk
Ono
Hiroshi
H
D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D009484:Neuropsychology / Q000266:history*; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology