Loudness recalibration and complex tones

Loudness recalibration occurs when a loud (recalibration) tone at frequency f1 precedes quieter test tones at frequencies f1 and f2. Previous experiments [Mapes-Riordan and Yost, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101, 3170(A) (1997)] have shown that the recalibration tone can decrease the loudness of the test tone at f1 by more than 6 dB. The current experiments addressed loudness recalibration when the test signal and/or recalibration signal was harmonic complex tones. In the first experiment an adaptive tracking procedure measured the equal loudness point between a harmonic complex and a pure tone. In the recalibration conditions, the loudness comparisons were preceded by a recalibration signal consisting of various combinations of frequencies contained in the harmonic complex, or by a pure tone corresponding to the pitch of the missing fundamental. In the second experiment, listeners were asked to adjust the level of a single harmonic (f3) in a harmonic complex (f1−f5) until it was heard as a separate tone in conditions with and without a recalibration tone at f3. The results of these experiments will be discussed in terms of the loci of loudness recalibration relative to perceptual stream formation. [Work supported by a NIDCD Program Project Grant.]