A robust asymmetry in loudness between rising- and falling-intensity tones
Emmanuel Ponsot1, Patrick Susini, Sabine Meunier
1STMS Laboratory (IRCAM, CNRS, UPMC), 1 place Igor Stravinsky, 75004, Paris, France, ponsot@ircam.fr.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|January 23, 2015
Summary
Perceptual loudness asymmetry shows that rising tones are perceived as louder than falling tones. This effect is robust across different experimental methods and contexts, with falling tones needing to be 4 dB higher to match loudness.
Area of Science:
- Psychoacoustics
- Auditory Perception
- Psychophysics
Background:
- Tones with rising intensity are perceived as louder than those with falling intensity.
- The underlying mechanisms and influencing factors of this loudness asymmetry are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the magnitude of loudness asymmetry for intensity-varying tones.
- To investigate the influence of contextual and methodological factors on this perceptual asymmetry.
Main Methods:
- Two psychophysical experiments were conducted using 2-second, 15-dB intensity-varying tones.
- Experiment 1 utilized an absolute magnitude estimation (AME) procedure.
- Experiment 2 employed an adaptive two-interval, two-alternative forced-choice (2I-2AFC) task.
Main Results:
- The loudness asymmetry was largely unaffected by variations in experimental context and measurement methods (AME vs. 2I-2AFC).
- A significant reduction in asymmetry was observed only at high sound pressure levels (80-90 dB SPL).
- Falling tones require approximately 4 dB higher intensity than rising tones for equal perceived loudness.
Conclusions:
- The loudness asymmetry between rising and falling tones is a robust perceptual phenomenon.
- The underlying neural mechanism is strong and consistent across different measurement conditions.
- Current loudness models do not adequately predict this observed perceptual asymmetry.
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