Performance and reaction times in monaural localization of first names in the horizontal plane.

Many studies have been conducted to measure monaural azimuthal sound localization performance with different sounds varying in frequency and complexity, but few have used linguistic stimuli. The present experimental design used subjects' first names in a monaural azimuthal localization task. Analysis of response accuracy showed that subjects are not more accurate in localizing their own first name than in localizing other first names and that there was no significant advantage of one ear over another. Reaction times were shorter when the subjects localized their own first name than when they localized any other first names and there was no significant ear advantage, but localizing other first names took more time with the right than with the left ear. All stimuli were better and more quickly localized on the side of the open ear, and there was no difference in acuity or velocity of localization with the two different speaker voices used. These results suggest that first names are processed through the controlateral auditory pathway and can be analyzed in the right hemisphere.