The Growth of Auditory Sensation

The integration of sensation with respect to time was studied experimentally by means of tones of short duration. Loudness tests were made on sounds persisting from 0.005 to 0.2 second and covering a wide range of levels. The observed increase in magnitude of a sensation as the duration time is increased is attributed to the integration characteristic of the central nervous system, and an equivalent electrical circuit is derived. The circuit analogy is then used in the computation of loudness as a function of the duration of the stimulus.