Covering one ear while someone talks in person produces no perceived loudness change.

Evidence

Ecological validity may be enhanced when an external source is used, when that source is speech, particularly connected speech rather than isolated words, and when accompanied by coherent visual cues. Since all these conditions are fulfilled when listening to someone in real life, the phenomenon of loudness constancy can be compellingly, if informally, demonstrated by simply occluding one ear with a finger when listening to someone talk; most people report that no change in loudness is apparent. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1525 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Since the Silence and Virtual-Finger conditions of experiment 2 produced significantly different summation effects, it seems that a portion of the loudness constancy effect observed in experiment 1 may have been mediated by the residual sound at the occluded ear. Both the Silence and the Virtual-Finger conditions produced a collapse in externalisation for the monaural case, so it seems unlikely that the difference in effect can be attributed to this cause. On the other hand, 2.5–3 dB of summation was still observed in the Virtual-Finger condition, whereas less that 1 dB was observed in the Loudspeaker condition of experiment 1. It appears, therefore, that the listeners’ awareness of meatal occlusion, which would only be present in the first case, may still play a role. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1525 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Closing one ear barely changes perceived loudness of live speech — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1525; Knowledge that an ear is covered reduces loudness summation — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1525

Broader Connections

• Closing one ear barely changes perceived loudness of live speech #corroborates (0.96) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1525
• Knowledge that an ear is covered reduces loudness summation #complicates (0.72) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1525