Effect of temporal pattern of non-steady state sounds on loudness.

Abstract

The effect of temporal pattern of non-steady state sounds on loudness was examined. In our previous study it was found that the temporal position of intensity increment has a systematic effect on the loudness of non-steady state sounds. The loudness was overestimated when the intensity increment was located at the onset or at the cessation of the stimulus. On the other hand the loudness was underestimated when the intensity increment was located in the middle. In our previous experiment, the stimuli were presented monaurally. In order to examine the mechanism of the effect, the stimuli were presented dichotically in the present experiment, i.e. the intensity increment was presented to the left ear and the rest to the right ear. The results showed no difference in loudness in different patterns except for in pattern 7 where the intensity increment was located at the cessation of the stimulus. This result suggests that the temporal effects found in our previous experiment is due to the effect of temporal masking. Further investigation will be needed in order to differentiate various temporal effects and examine more closely the dynamic characteristics of hearing.