Intensity discrimination, increment detection, and magnitude estimation for 1-kHz tones

Intensity difference limens (DLs) were measured over a wide intensity range for 200-ms, 1-kHz gated tones and for 200-ms increments in continuous 1-kHz tones. Magnitude estimates also were obtained for the gated tones over a comparable intensity range. The discrimination data are in general agreement with those from earlier studies but they extend them by showing: (1) good discrimination for gated tones over at least a 115-dB dynamic range; (2) a slight increase in the relative DL (δI /I) as intensity increases above 95 dB SPL; (3) smaller DLs for increments than for gated tones, with the difference approximately independent of intensity; (4) negligible “negative masking” when thresholds are expressed as intensity differences (δ/). For two of the three subjects, magnitude estimates do not conform to a single-exponent power law for suprathreshold intensities. Over the middle range of intensities where a single exponent is appropriate, the value of the exponent is less than 0.1 for all subjects.