The purpose of this series of experiments was to establish normative reference values
for absolute and relative judgements of loudness discomfort and for the auditory dynamic
range (DR), and to evaluate intersubject variability and intrasubject test-retest
reliability for the respective measures of loudness discomfort. To establish the normal
auditory DR, audiometric thresholds and loudness discomfort levels (LDLs) were measured
from a group of 59 normal-hearing adults without sound tolerance problems. The resulting
estimates of the LDL and DR were on the order of 100 dB HL and 95 dB, respectively.
A subset (n = 18) of this larger group participated in further studies in which loudness
growth functions and the upper limit of the auditory DR were measured by categorical
scaling judgments. The findings revealed no significant differences between the test
methods for absolute (LDL) and relative (categorical scaling) judgements of loudness
discomfort, intersubject variability, or intrasubject test-retest reliability, and
suggest that the simple LDL estimate of loudness discomfort is an efficient and valid
clinical measure for characterizing the "threshold of discomfort."
Key Words
Auditory dynamic range - categorical scaling of loudness - Contour Test of Loudness
- loudness discomfort level - test-retest reliability
