Abstract
Previous evidence from short monotic stimuli shows that a steady stimulus is perceived as growing louder; to be perceived as steady, the intensity of the stimulus must decrease. In the present study, 10 subjects heard a sequence of diotic tonal stimuli. Each stimulus lasted 1.5 sec. and increased, decreased, or remained steady in intensity; initial intensity was 40 dB SPL and carrier frequency was 1 kHz. Subjects made forced binary responses of `'growing louder'' or `'growing softer'' to each stimulus. Confirming the evidence from monotic stimuli, the mean value of changing intensity eliciting equal numbers of both responses was negative. Possible explanations for this growing-louder effect reside in (a) the percussive nature of many natural sounds and (b) selective responding to approaching sound-sources.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 63-66 |
Journal | Perceptual and Motor Skills |
Volume | 83 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - Aug 1996 |