Influence of Spatial Hearing on Auditory Subitizing Efficiency

In auditory research, subitizing has received limited attention to date, particularly with respect to parallel subitizing, which involves the rapid determination of the numerosity of simultaneously presented auditory stimuli. This study aimed to explore the range of this phenomenon and to investigate the impact of spatial distribution of sounds on subitizing ability. The experiment encompassed two conditions that varied in horizontal sound distribution and the number of sounds presented from a single location. In both conditions, 1 to 6 natural sounds were played. In Exp1, sounds were emitted from up to three locations (-90, 0, 90), and when the number of sounds exceeded the number of locations, two sounds could originate from one location. In Exp2, six locations were used (0,+ 60,-60,+ 120,-120, 180), with only one sound per location allowed.