A human listener is needed to connect objective sound pressure with perceived loudness

Evidence

One very important aspect of loudness relates to the relationship between changes in sound pressure level and the resulting perceived variation in loudness. This is a somewhat strange relationship to explore in practice because it seeks to compare an objective quantity (sound pressure level) with a subjective notion (loudness). So a human listener is required for any experiment that seeks to explore this, but what would we ask them to do in the listening experiment? — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 650

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Stevens’ power law and the general problem of psychophysical measurement raised by Fechner and later Stevens. — connects to: Magnitude estimation lets listeners assign numbers proportional to perceived loudness. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 709; Perceived-loudness matching often needs separate listening tests to achieve — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 867; Objective hearing measures require linking perception, physiology, and speech ability. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4157 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Perceived-loudness matching often needs separate listening tests to achieve #corroborates (0.85) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 867
• Magnitude estimation lets listeners assign numbers proportional to perceived loudness. #expands (0.80) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 709
• Objective hearing measures require linking perception, physiology, and speech ability. #corroborates (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4157
• Reported sound levels almost always refer to pressure, matching human hearing #corroborates (0.72)