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Spectro-temporal weighting of loudness
Daniel Oberfeld1, Wiebke Heeren, Jan Rennies
1Department of Psychology, Section Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany. oberfeld@uni-mainz.de
Plos One
|December 5, 2012
Summary
Listeners perceive loudness based on early sound components and lower frequencies. Spectral and temporal weighting of loudness in time-varying sounds are independent processes, with spectral weights constant over time and temporal weights constant across frequency.
Area of Science:
- Acoustics
- Psychoacoustics
- Auditory Perception
Background:
- Real-world sounds possess spectro-temporal variability, where spectral regions evolve differently over time.
- Understanding the contribution of spectral and temporal components to perceived loudness is crucial but not fully elucidated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how listeners weight temporal and spectral sound components for overall loudness perception.
- To determine if spectral and temporal weighting are independent processes in time-varying sounds.
Main Methods:
- Measured spectral weights using loudness-matched narrowband noises at different center frequencies.
- Measured temporal weights by presenting stimuli with random level changes every 100 ms.
- Assessed spectro-temporal weights with independent random level changes across three narrowband noises.
Main Results:
- A primacy effect was observed, with the initial 300 ms of sound significantly influencing loudness perception.
- Lower frequency noise bands contributed more to overall loudness than higher bands.
- Spectral and temporal weights were consistent across conditions, indicating independent weighting processes.
Conclusions:
- Temporal and spectral weighting of loudness in time-varying sounds are independent.
- Spectral weights are constant over time, and temporal weights are constant across frequency.
- Findings offer insights for refining current loudness models for complex auditory signals.
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