Auditory Distance Judgments in Noise, with and without Hearing Protection
- 1 October 1985
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting
- Vol. 29 (8) , 811-813
- https://doi.org/10.1177/154193128502900820
Abstract
Previous studies of the effects of hearing protective devices (HPDs) on auditory localization have all been concerned with directional judgments. The present study examined the influence of such devices upon judgments of distance under conditions of noise. Blindfolded observers were required to verbally report the apparent distance to a target sound under one of three conditions: quiet (60 dBA), noise (90 dBA) or noise (90 dBA) while wearing inserted foam plugs. Judgments in quiet were found to be reasonably correct. The presence of high-level noise, however, decreased the judged distances significantly. The use of the HPD neither improved these latter judgments, nor did it produce any further error. The findings are fully consistent with present understanding of the bases for auditory distance perception.This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Absolute and Relative Cues for the Auditory Perception of Egocentric DistancePerception, 1979
- Intensity and reverberation as factors in the auditory perception of egocentric distancePerception & Psychophysics, 1975