Auditory reaction time as a function of stimulus intensity, frequency, and rise time

Abstract

The effects of signal intensity, frequency, and rise time on auditory reaction time (RT) were investigated in this study. Equal-loudness data were first obtained for 100-, 1,000-, and 10,000-Hz tones at intensity levels of 20, 40, 60, and 80 phons. These tones were presented subsequently as RT signals with variable rise times. The main effects indicated that (1) RT increased systematically with signal rise time, (2) RT was inversely related to signal intensity, and (3) equally loud stimuli did not produce equivalent RTs at different signal frequencies. In view of our failure to obtain equal-RT functions across signal frequencies, it was proposed that the detection of a stimulus and the judgment of its loudness require different perceptual processes.