Relation between Loudness and Duration of Tonal Pulses. III. Response in Cases of Abnormal Loudness Function

Abstract

486F. MISKOLCZY-FODOR the same principle. This observation proves the rather general validity of the concept concerning the direct correlation between loudness and time threshold. •,a 2. The regular relationship between tone duration and loudness will be altered if the energy distribution of the pure tone noticeably changes along the frequency axis. This is due to transients associated with shortening of the tonal pulse. Under these conditions, the loudness response is affected by the increased energy dissipation over side bands, as well as the decreased signal duration.3. The time threshold depends, therefore, not only upon the loudness of a given suprathreshold level, but also upon changes of sound energy distribution along the frequency bands. Threshold changes affected by the altered energy distribution become apparent around the threshold of click pitch in behavioral experiments. We feel that this limit is dependent more upon behavioral responses to the side bands than upon the physical course of energy spreading. Subjective tran-sients may play a decisive role in the fairly sudden change of the subjective response around this limit. If the measured time threshold becomes shorter than click pitch, it has less bearing on the loudness of the original pure tone;rather, the time threshold becomes related to the loudness of the new sound, into which the pure tone is transformed by the transient modulation.4. It is not definite whether the duration limits of the described ranges are rather distinct, or whether they represent more continuous transitions. TM It is also conjectural whether the described duration ranges of shortened tonal pulses bear any closer relationship to the subjective limits of pitch changes (i.e., tone pitch, click pitch, click). The previously determined relation between time-threshold and loudness is investigated in cases ofabnormal loudness response. The correlation between loudness and duration of short sound impulses, academic dissertation, Budapest (1955). a F. Miskolczy-Fodor, Acta Oto-Laryngol. 43, 573 (1953). for a given level above threshold (time-threshold) is directly related to its loudness. Thus, the timethreshold determination appears to offer a suitable technique for measuring loudness over a specific range of suprathreshold levels. In order to ascertain the validity and practicability of the duration-loudness relation, the behavior of timethreshold in cases of pathologic loudness response was investigated. Certain previously published details, of this problem have been partially confirmed by Jerger, 4 4 j. F. Jerger, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 27, 121 (1955). Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 138.26.31.3 On: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 01:23:22 LOUDNESS AND DURATION IN PATHOLOGIC EARS 487 Eisenberg, 5 Harris, Haines, and Myers, 6 and discussed by R6sler and Lundborg. 7 The extensive papers by Eisenberg 5 and Harris et al., • dealing with the basic and practical problems of time-threshold measurements, deserve spec...

Stability of individual loudness functions obtained by magnitude estimation and production

“…Finally, in accord with the outcome of masked loudness measurements in normal ears (Chocholle & Greenbaum, 1966;Hellman & Zwislocki, 1964;Lochner & Burger, 1961;Scharf, 1964;S. S. Stevens & Guirao, 1967) and with group data determined by ears with sensorineural hearing loss (Miskolczy-Fodor, 1960), the results show that the slope of the loudness-recruitment function depends on the threshold of audibility; that is, the higher the threshold, the steeper the function. Both observers with a threshold at 66 dB SPL produce a function with a slope close to 1.0.…”

Effect of aging on the subjective magnitude of vibration

“…Steeper loudness functions in the auditory system are known as ª loudness recruitmentº which is found in persons who have damage within the organ of Corti (Fowler, 1928;Steinberg and Gardner, 1937;Hellman and Zwislocki, 1964;Miskolczy-Fodor, 1964;Thalmann, 1965;Stevens and Guirao, 1967;Hellman, 1981). Stevens (1968) proposed that a loss of tactile sensitivity is the analogue of a hearing loss due to cochlear damage and that there should be a concomitant steepening of the curve of subjective magnitude.…”

Effects of aging on the suprathreshold responses to vibration

“…Stevens (1968) argued that the decrease of vibrotactile sensitivity at low frequencies was analogous to a loss of sensitivity due to peripheral damage at the cochlea. He reasoned that the growth of subjective sensitivity, therefore, should be more rapid at low frequencies, a phenomenon known as loudness recruitment in persons with damage within the organ of Corti (Fowler, 1928;Hellman, 1981;Hellman & Zwislocki, 1964;Miskolczy-Fodor, 1964;Pohlman & Kranz, 1924;Steinberg & Gardner, 1937;Stevens& Guirao, 1967;Thalmann, 1965). Loudness recruitment appears as a rapid growth of subjective intensity near threshold, but at higher stimulus intensities the curve approximates the normal loudness function.…”