Pitch identification of simultaneous dichotic two-tone complexes.

The optimum processor theory of Goldstein can, in principle, account for pitch perception phenomena involving simultaneous dichotic complex tones. The frequency-coding noise function, which is the only free parameter of the model, was estimated with pitch identification data of two simultaneous two-tone complexes presented to different ears. This "sigma" function was found to have a shape similar to that of the function derived from data on identification performance for single pitches. The sigmas in the simultaneous pitch identification experiment are larger by an amount that differs from subject to subject. By using different methods of data analysis it was found that the pitch estimation processes for the two tones are independent for most subjects. This allows a simple extension of Goldstein's optimum processor theory.