Speech and music draw attention to the right ear in stereophonic listening

This study investigated whether right-handed subjects would prefer the right ear for normal speech and the left ear for musical stimuli. Right-handed college students (9 women and 2 men) were presented two stereophonic tape recordings, one of normal speech, the other of nonlyrical, orchestral music. Subjects used an attenuator to match the intensity of signals in the left and right earphones. The subjects consistently favored the right side in both conditions. These findings are inconsistent with those of other researchers, such as Segalowitz and Plantery. However, the findings support the 1980 research of Porac, Coren, and Duncan, offering perceptual evidence of a general right-ear bias in right-handed subjects.