Revisiting relations between loudness and intensity discrimination

A comparison is made between the variation of delta Ljnd with L (loudness), based on the beat-detection data of Riesz at 1 kHz [Phys. Rev. 31, 867-875 (1928)], and analogous relations obtained from a cross section of studies. Data analysis shows that only beat detection exhibits the degree of level-dependent variation in slope relating log (delta Ljnd) to log (L) described in a recent paper by Allen and Neely [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 3628-3646 (1997)]. Moreover, the slope variation determined from beat detection is not dependent on the detailed shape of the loudness function. The results imply that Allen and Neely's strong conclusions about the dependence of delta Ljnd on L are too tightly coupled to Riesz's methodology to be generally applicable.