Underwater loudness for pure tones: Duration effects

The loudness of underwater pure tones was measured by loudness matching for pure tones from 100 to 16,000 Hz. The standard was a one second tone at 1000 Hz. The signal duration was varied from 20 milliseconds to 5 seconds. Subjects were instructed to match the loudness of the comparison tone at one of the test frequencies to the loudness of the standard tone. Loudness was measured at the threshold, the most comfortable loudness, and the maximum tolerable loudness. The intensity of the standard was varied randomly across the test series. The subjects were bareheaded U.S. Navy divers tested at a depth of 3 meters. All subjects had normal in-air hearing. Tones were presented to the right side of the subject from an array of underwater sound projectors. The sound pressure level was calibrated at the location of the subject’s head with the subject absent. Loudness increased and threshold decreased as duration increased. The effect was greatest at the lowest and highest frequencies. The shape of the loudness contours across frequency and duration derived from these measurements are different from in-air measurements. [Research supported by ONR.]