Intensity discrimination as a function of level and frequency and its relation to high-frequency hearing

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Abstract
How intensity discrimination depends on the test frequency, the level, and the subject''s high-frequency hearing was examined. Three experiments were performed. In the 1st experiment, intensity discrimination of pulsed tones was measured as a function of level at 1 and 14 kHz in 5 listeners. Results show less deviation from Weber''s law at 14 kHz than at 1 kHz. In the 2nd experiment intensity discrimination was measured for a 1-kHz tone at 90-dB SPL [sound pressure level] as a function of the cutoff frequency of a high-pass masking noise in two listeners. Results show that the audibility of very high frequencies is important for frequency discrmination at 1 kHz. The DL [difference limen] increased by a factor between 1.5 and 2.0 as the cutoff frequency of the noise was lowered from 19 to 6 kHz. In the 3rd experiment, thresholds from 6 to 20 kHz and intensity discriminationm for a 1-kHz tone was measured in 12 listeners. Results show that the DL at 80-dB SPL are correlated with the ability to hear very high frequencies. Results of all three experiments are consistent with the multiband version of the excitation-pattern model for intensity discrimination.

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