Lecture by Daniel Oberfeld-Twistel
Perceptual weights in loudness judgments

Loudness is the subjective intensity of sound and a fundamental aspect of auditory perception. During the past 10 years, a significant number of studies have shown that human listeners do not weight all temporal and spectral portions of a sound equally when they evaluate its overall loudness. For instance, the psychophysical data very consistently show a primacy effect: The beginning of a sound is more important for the loudness judgment than later temporal portions. This stands in contrast to what is assumed by technical measures widely used in noise assessment. Also, different spectral regions receive different weights. These data provide a challenge even for recent loudness models. In my talk, I will provide an overview of the state of the art concerning perceptual weights in loudness (data, potential mechanisms, and modeling approaches).