Loudness recalibration as a function of level

Recent research on loudness has focused on contextual effects on loudness, both assimilation and recalibration. The current experiments examined loudn ess recalibration [Marks, J. Exp. Psychol. 20, 382-396 (1994)]. In the firs t experiment, an adaptive tracking procedure was used to measure loudness r ecalibration as a function of standard- and recalibration-tone level. The s tandard-tone frequencies were 500 and 2500 Hz and the levels were 80-, 70-, 60-, and 40-dB SPL, and threshold. Seventeen dB of loudness recalibration was obtained (combined over both frequencies) in the 60-dB SPL condition. T his amount of loudness recalibration, while substantial, is still less than that obtained by Marks (22 dB), using the method of paired comparisons. Th e second experiment sought to duplicate Marks' earlier experiment [Marks, J . Exp. Psychol. 20, 382-396 (1994), experiment 2]. The results of this expe riment (21 dB) were almost identical to those obtained by Marks. The result s of experiment 1 indicate that loudness recalibration is maximum when the recalibration tone is moderately louder than the subsequent standard tones. Relatively little loudness recalibration is exhibited when the standard-to ne level equals the recalibration-tone level. In addition, there is no loud ness recalibration at threshold. The tracking procedure also identified tha t the onset of loudness recalibration is very rapid. The difference between the maximum loudness recalibration obtained at each frequency (11 dB at 50 0 Hz, 6 dB at 2500 Hz) suggests that loudness recalibration is dependent up on the frequency of the standard tone. (C) 1999 Acoustical Society of Ameri ca. [S0001-4966(99)01312-0].