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Measurement of Loudness, Part II: Context Effects

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Loudness

Part of the book series: Springer Handbook of Auditory Research ((SHAR,volume 37))

Abstract

The acoustic environment is typically in a constant flux. Not only do sounds often change over time in their intensity and spectral composition, but they also commonly impinge on our ears in the company of other sounds. The dynamic ensemble of acoustic energies constitutes a Heraclitean context for the perception of auditory intensity, or loudness. Depending on how listeners direct their attention, they may focus on the loudness of an individual component discernible within the complex, on a set of components, or on the entire auditory experience – the Gesamtempfindung. Indeed, researchers have long recognized that the loudness of a sound heard at any moment reflects not only the acoustical energy of that particular sound, but also other sounds heard at the same time as well as the history of acoustical stimulation to which the listeners have been exposed. In other words, a sound of fixed physical properties may be judged as louder or softer depending on the context in which it is perceived. The purpose of this chapter is twofold: to review and summarize current understanding of the ways that context affects loudness and loudness judgments and to put forth a general, sequential, information-processing framework in which to describe and explain the possible sources of these effects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, 07043, USA

    Yoav Arieh

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  1. Yoav Arieh
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  2. Lawrence E. Marks
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Correspondence to Yoav Arieh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept. Speech-Language Pathology & Audiol, Northeastern University, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Mary Florentine

  2. , Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742, USA

    Arthur N Popper

  3. Parmly Hearing Institute, Loyola University Chicago, 6525 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, 60626, Illinois, USA

    Richard R. Fay

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Arieh, Y., Marks, L.E. (2011). Measurement of Loudness, Part II: Context Effects. In: Florentine, M., Popper, A., Fay, R. (eds) Loudness. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol 37. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6712-1_3

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