Reaction time measures loudness across the full hearing range

Evidence

Because loudness can be difficult to measure, using alternative methods such as reaction time to characterize loudness has value for research and clinical purposes. Certain populations, like animals or people with significant language disabilities, cannot always provide loudness judgments like those described in this chapter. Consequently, using reaction time as a correlate of loudness has been gaining traction in animal models and has proven valuable in establishing animal models for auditory disorders (e.g., Lauer & Dooling, 2007). Reaction time measures are beginning to become more widespread in human testing as well. For example, recent studies have applied reaction time techniques in the development of models of hyperacusis, an increased sensitivity to sounds. Reaction times would be expected to be faster in the presence of hyperacusis (Hébert, Fournier, & Noreña, 2013), and therefore reaction time may provide a fast and reliable way to measure loudness in large groups of people. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 792

Reaction time is a correlate of loudness that has garnered favor in the past few years, and reaction time has the potential to provide a less subjective correlate of loudness than magnitude estimation. If reaction time, the time it takes to respond to a stimulus, varies in a predictable way with loudness, then reaction time could be used as a fast and possibly more reliable estimate of the loudness of sounds. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 783

In a detection experiment, the reaction time is defined as the amount of time required for a listener to detect a stimulus (e.g., by pressing a button), and it is generally measured from stimulus onset. … Psychoacoustic detection experiments do not allow this, as the relevant measures for detection are either absolute threshold or percent detection. A typical psychometric function only covers a range of about 10 to 15 dB. Reaction times, on the other hand, can be measured to sounds presented at levels across the full dynamic range of hearing. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 786

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the reading purpose of normal vs impaired hearing — reaction time opens loudness measurement to animals, language-disabled humans, and hyperacusis patients. — connects to: Envelope-following response measures capture hearing aspects beyond the audiometric threshold — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5885; Reaction time measures loudness in animals and language-disabled people — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 792
• SEED: Possible essay angle: reaction time as a ‘behavioral biomarker’ connecting animal and human auditory research, bypassing the need for language.
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 792; Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 783; Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 786