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Fine structure of hearing threshold and loudness perception
Manfred Mauermann1, Glenis R Long, Birger Kollmeier
1Medizinische Physik, Universität Oldenburg, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany. manfred.mauermann@uni-oldenburg.de
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|September 21, 2004
Summary
The fine structure of hearing thresholds impacts how we perceive loudness, especially at lower sound levels. This effect, known as threshold fine structure, influences loudness growth for pure tones up to 40 dB SPL.
Area of Science:
- Psychoacoustics
- Auditory Perception
- Audiology
Background:
- Hearing thresholds exhibit fine structure (quasiperiodic variations) at high frequency resolution.
- This microstructure can potentially influence auditory perception, including loudness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of hearing threshold fine structure on loudness perception.
- To determine how loudness growth is affected by the position of tones within the threshold fine structure.
Main Methods:
- Measured individual hearing thresholds and equal loudness contours using loudness-matching paradigms.
- Observed loudness growth of sinusoids at frequencies corresponding to threshold minima or maxima.
- Employed categorical loudness scaling as a direct scaling technique.
Main Results:
- Loudness growth at low sound levels depended on the frequency's position within the threshold fine structure.
- A difference in loudness growth slope of 0.2 dB/dB was observed between different reference tones.
- The influence of threshold fine structure on loudness perception was evident up to 40 dB SPL.
Conclusions:
- Hearing threshold fine structure significantly influences the loudness perception of pure tones.
- Findings suggest implications for loudness measurements and psychoacoustic experiments due to differential compression.
- The effect is observable across different loudness scaling procedures.