Psychoacoustic investigation of auditory cues involved in human underwater sound localization

International audienceTheoretical arguments about underwater sound localization predict that auditory cuesused in air are impaired in water. However, long term acclimatization could emerge due toexposure to the environment. We have compared localization abilities of expert and novicedivers. The localization task was conducted for 8 azimuthal sound positions and 8 signals(0.4, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 kHz, white-noise). Results indicate that localization was better forexperts: they made more correct localizations and their directional response distribution wasless dispersed. These results demonstrate long term acclimatization in the processing oflocalization cues under water, particularly of interaural cues