... until recently it was held that the pinna had only a minor effect on the process of hearing sound, merely acting as a sound funnel to the inner ear (Batteau, 1967). Notwithstanding, recent research studies into sound localisation have established that the pinnae play an important role in the localisation of sound (Batteau, 1967; Butler, 1969; Gardner & Gardner, 1973). The pinnae are considered by many to be especially important when determining the location of a sound source in the vertical plane (Butler, 1969; Gardner & Gardner, 1973). Batteau (1967) was one of the first to demonstrate the effects of the pinnae on localisation accuracy. This was illustrated by recording sounds, received by small microphones inserted into casts of pinnae (either normal pinnae or occluded pinnae, e.g. placing a small tube in each ear canal and filling the pinnae with clay to prevent sound interacting with its convolutions), then playing the ...

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