Contextual plasticity, top-down, and non-auditory factors in sound localization with a distractor.

Localization of a 2-ms-click target was previously shown to be influenced by interleaved localization trials in which the target was preceded by an identical distractor [Kopco, Best, and Shinn-Cunningham (2007). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 121, 420-432]. Here, two experiments were conducted to explore this contextual effect. Results show that context-related bias is not eliminated (1) when the response method is changed so that vision is available or that no hand-pointing is required; or (2) when the distractor-target order is reversed. Additionally, a keyboard-based localization response method is introduced and shown to be more accurate than traditional pointer-based methods.