Binaural loudness constancy is partly physical and partly cognitive in origin

Evidence

Loudness is mainly the perceptual correlate of sound intensity, which is usually expressed in dB SPL as sound pressure level on a logarithmic scale. However, loudness judgments are also affected by several other variables, including physical sound parameters like e.g. duration, spectral content and temporal modulation as well many more acoustic and non-acoustic factors, including the particular task or context and personal factors like the individual hearing status (Florentine et al. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2610 (#expands, via linked claim)

Intensity, while it has concrete bearing on what sound will do to the hearing apparatus, is not the same metric as perceived loudness, which doubles with every ten-decibel increase, so that going from 40 to 50 decibels equals a rise of 100 percent. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 53 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Binaural loudness constancy depends on residual low-frequency cues and knowledge of ear occlusion — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1562; Loudness depends on more than physical sound intensity alone — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2610; Perceived loudness and physical sound intensity follow different, non-intuitive mathematical scales — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 53 (+3 more)

Related

• Loudness depends on more than physical sound intensity alone (similarity 0.91)
• Loudness is perceptual and unmeasurable directly, while intensity is acoustic and directly quantifiable (similarity 0.88)
• Loudness, measured in sones, depends inherently on frequency content (similarity 0.88)
• Loudness depends on frequency, angle, duration, and envelope, not just level (similarity 0.88)
• Binaural loudness constancy depends on residual low-frequency cues and knowledge of ear occlusion (similarity 0.87)
• Binaural loudness may exhibit constancy across conditions (similarity 0.87)
• Loudness scales with frequency squared, requiring large amplitude at low frequencies (similarity 0.87)
• Loudness perception involves central mechanisms beyond cochlear vibration (similarity 0.86)
• Sound intensity level and sound pressure level are roughly equivalent (similarity 0.86)
• Low-frequency residual sound may contribute disproportionately to binaural loudness (similarity 0.86)
• Perceived loudness does not map one-to-one onto acoustic amplitude (similarity 0.85)
• Loudness constancy stems either from residual occluded-ear sound or cognitive knowledge of occlusion. (similarity 0.85)
• Loudness growth with intensity requires experimental quantification, not intuition (similarity 0.84)
• Loudness perception is probabilistic, with a response distribution at each stimulus level. (similarity 0.84)
• Loudness is not reducible to sound pressure level or signal power (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Loudness depends on more than physical sound intensity alone #expands (0.85) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2610
• Loudness perception involves central mechanisms beyond cochlear vibration #corroborates (0.85)
• Perceived loudness and physical sound intensity follow different, non-intuitive mathematical scales #expands (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 53
• Loudness is a subjective percept standardized against 1-kHz tone levels in phons #expands (0.72)
• Loudness is measured subjectively against 1 kHz reference tones #expands (0.72) — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1169