Auditory perception must be studied indirectly through measurable external reactions.

Evidence

The goal of an investigation may be to seek a relation hi = f(s), where f(s) = fc(fp(s)), which describes how the attribute(s) of the auditory event s is mapped onto the attributes of an auditory event. The external observer encounters another transform, bo = f(hi), a mapping from the internal representation to the external reaction that can ultimately be registered objectively. This relation may be called the reaction function or the description function, depending on how the external observations are carried out. In a sense, it corresponds to the registration or display function of a measurement device used in physical or physiological experiments. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 851

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the reaction/description function concept distinguishing internal auditory events from externally observable behavior.