ABSTRACT
In this chapter I document the immense advantage of ratio scaling , especially magnitude estimation, in the measurement of loudness adaptation. By loudness adaptation I mean (Scharf, 1983): "a decrease in the loudness of a steady sound over time" (p. 1). The advantage of magnitude estimation applies to other types of sensory adaptation but is especially important for loudness, where strong interaural interactions have misled many a researcher. A classical approach to measuring loudness adaptation has been via interaural loudness matches. Turn on a sound and then judge its loudness in comparison to that of some other occasional sound . Presenting the comparison sound to the contralateral ear avoids any interruption of the continuous sound. Such procedures, referred to as simultaneous dichotic loudness balance , have revealed as much as 40 dB of "loudness adaptation" after a few minutes of exposure (e.g., Hood, 1950; Karja , 1968) .
