Loudness depends on more than physical sound intensity alone

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

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. 2011 ). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2612

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that loudness is the perceptual correlate of sound pressure level, not reducible to physical intensity.
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2610; Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2612
• XREF: connects to: The loudness function approaches a vertical asymptote at the 3 dB threshold in quiet; Loudness is the summed specific loudness across critical-band rates, not the raw spectral level; Total loudness requires linear scales before integration is valid — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1283 (+24 more)

Broader Connections

• Perceived loudness and physical sound intensity follow different, non-intuitive mathematical scales #expands (0.82) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 53
• Loudness growth with intensity requires experimental quantification, not intuition #expands (0.80)
• Loudness perception requires a tenfold intensity increase to double #exemplifies (0.80) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 652
• Spreading a sound’s energy across more critical bands increases perceived loudness without raising intensity #exemplifies (0.80) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 665
• Loudness perception is essentially logarithmic #expands (0.80) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 611
• Loudness grows when sound energy spills beyond a single critical band #exemplifies (0.80) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 667
• Loudness is measured subjectively against 1 kHz reference tones #expands (0.75) — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1169