Loudness of brief tones measured by magnitude estimation and loudness matching.

McFadden [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 57, 702-704 (1975)] questioned the accuracy and reliability of magnitude estimation for measuring loudness of tones that vary both in duration and level, whereas Stevens and Hall [Percept. Psychophys. 1, 319-327 (1966)] reported reasonable group data. To gain insight into this discrepancy, the present study compares loudness measures for 5- and 200-ms tones using magnitude estimation and equal-loudness matches from the same listeners. Results indicate that both procedures provide rapid and accurate assessments of group loudness functions for brief tones, but may not be reliable enough to reveal specific characteristics of loudness in individual listeners.