Dichotic identification of complex sounds: absolute and relative ear advantages.

Dichotic identification of a variety of complex sounds was studied in seven listeners. Analysis of individual listeners' scores shows that there are significant individual differences in terms of absolute ear advantage for a given sound, while comparison of such differences across stimuli reveals agreements among individuals as to relative ear advantages, when both magnitude and direction of ear differences are considered. This agreement can be expressed in terms of a "relative ear advantage continuum." The experiments also indicated that ear advantages can show good reliability over as much as six months' time.