Is There a Standard Loudness?

In the investigation of loudness as a function of duration, the slope of the loudness function was 0.43, considerably different from the slope of 0.54 obtained by numerous other investigations of loudness at 1000 cps. To explain this difference in slope, the hypothesis was made that, when loudness is measured in the absence of a standard presented at a constant sensation level and assigned a fixed number, an implicit loudness-assigned number combination is used as the standard, and that this standard is the comfortable listening level. The comfortable listening level for the subjects used previously was determined as well as the number assigned to this level. By applying appropriate transformations to the results of prior experiments concerned with the slope of the loudness function as a function of the relation between the sensation level at which the standard is presented and the number assigned to that level, it is possible to show that when a standard is not presented the most likely candidate for an implicit reference loudness is the comfortable listening level. [This research was performed at the Laboratory of Sensory Communication, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13210.]