Characteristics of Loudness Growth Perception for Korean Adults with Normal Hearing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate loudness growth perception including most comfortable level (MCL), uncomfortable level (UCL) for Korean with normal hearing. 48 subjects (24 males and 24 females) with the age ranged 19-24 (M 21.9 yr, SD 1.8) years were participated in this study. Loudness growth test (LGT) were examined by 7 categories using FM tone of 500 Hz, 3,000 Hz and Korean two syllable words. The results of LGT were as follows：1) There were no significant gender differences in all categories using FM tone of 500 and 3,000 Hz (p>0.05). 2) significant differences were noted for FM tone (500 Hz, 3,000 Hz) in MCL and UCL (p<0.01). 3) UCL for male's live voice was higher than female's one using Korean two syllable words (p<0.01). 4) Comparing LGT with Korean and English showed no significant differences (p>0.05). Loudness growth perception data for normals and hearingimpaired listeners should be considered to help hearing aid fitting for the Korean hearing impaired. KEY WORDS：Loudness growth test•MCL•UCL.