Deriving loudness growth functions from categorical loudness scaling data

Abstract

The goal of this study was to reconcile the differences between measures of loudness obtained with continuous, unbounded scaling procedures, such as magnitude estimation and production, and those obtained using a limited number of discrete categories, such as categorical loudness scaling (CLS). The former procedures yield data with ratio properties, but some listeners find it difficult to generate numbers proportional to loudness and the numbers cannot be compared across listeners to explore individual differences. CLS, where listeners rate loudness on a verbal scale, is an easier task, but the numerical values or categorical units (CUs) assigned to the points on the scale are not proportional to loudness. Sufficient CLS data are now available to assign values in sones, a scale proportional to loudness, to the loudness categories. As a demonstration of this approach, data from Heeren, Hohmann, Appell, and Verhey [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133, EL314-EL319 (2013)] were used to develop a CU metric, whose values were then substituted for the original CU values in reanalysis of a large set of CLS data obtained by Rasetshwane, Trevino, Gombert, Liebig-Trehearn, Kopun, Jesteadt, Neely, and Gorga [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 137, 1899-1913 (2015)]. The resulting data are well fitted by power functions and are in general agreement with previously published results obtained with magnitude estimation, magnitude production, and cross modality matching.

Narrative Review of Loudness Perception Measures in Children

“…In addition to being easy and quick to administer, CLS can provide information about the patient's LDL and their loudness growth. Unsurprisingly, this scaling measurement appears to be the most popular method used in basic and clinical research and has been standardized by the International Standards Organization (Cox et al 1997;ISO 16832:2006ISO 16832: 2006Scollie et al 2010;Rasetshwane et al 2015;Wróblewski et al 2017). Magnitude Estimation, Magnitude Production, and Cross-Modality Matching • Another scaling method used for measuring loudness is magnitude estimation (Stevens 1956;Collins & Gescheider 1989)-an unbounded, continuous scaling procedure.…”

“…Listeners are provided with a set of choices to categorize or rate a sound they hear, such as “very soft” or “loud.” In addition to being easy and quick to administer, CLS can provide information about the patient’s LDL and their loudness growth. Unsurprisingly, this scaling measurement appears to be the most popular method used in basic and clinical research and has been standardized by the International Standards Organization (Cox et al 1997; ISO 16832:2006 2006; Scollie et al 2010; Rasetshwane et al 2015; Wróblewski et al 2017).…”

Maximum Expected Information Approach for Improving Efficiency of Categorical Loudness Scaling

“…These include (1) fitting a loudness model (two segment straight lines) to the trial-by-trial data (e.g., Brand and Hohmann, 2002 ; Heeren et al, 2013 ; Oetting et al, 2014 ), and (2) fitting a model to the median of the trial-by-trial data ( Al-Salim et al, 2010 ; Rasetshwane et al, 2015 ). It has been noted that these procedures can lead to over-smoothing of the data ( Trevino et al, 2016a ; Wròblewski et al, 2017 ) and that using the median of trial-by-trial data may produce more reliable results. In the current study, we follow the method described in Trevino et al (2016a) .…”