Global and continuous judgments of sounds with time-varying intensity: Cross-modal matching with a proprioceptive input device

Abstract

Conventional psychophysical methods such as paired comparisons and psychophysical scaling present problems in the case of real-time perceptual evaluation of long-duration nonstationary sounds. In order to obtain loudness profiles of such sounds and to determine their relation to global loudness judgments, a continuous judgment method was employed using cross-modal matching of loudness with muscular force in a proprioceptive input device. This device was perceptually calibrated with 1-kHz stationary pure tones using S. S. Stevens’ cross-modal matching paradigm. The loudness scale is equivalent to that obtained with ratio and magnitude production methods. The device was then tested on pure tones varying in intensity from 10 to 53 s. In order to observe the different memory processes involved in the global evaluation, several types of contours were used with from one to three peaks. The global judgment was influenced both by the duration and the level of the last contour peaks. The continuous judgment task also appeared to entail an auditory and gestual learning of the signal contour.