title: Effects of test order on most comfortable and uncomfortable loudness levels for speech.
abstract: This study examined test-order effects on most comfortable loudness (MCL) and uncomfortable loudness (UCL) levels for spondaic words in 2 groups of 30 normal hearing listeners each. For Group 1, MCL was measured first, followed by UCL. For Group 2, UCL was measured first, and then MCL. A retest was conducted for both groups. Results showed that MCL was significantly elevated for Group 2, but not for Group 1. There was no effect on UCL for either group. In a follow-up experiment, the magnitude of the test-order effect on MCL increased significantly when MCL measurements followed UCL measurements closely in time. These results argue for management of the ordering and temporal spacing of MCL and UCL testing in clinical loudness measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1212, USA. jpunch@msu.edu
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Punch
authors.forename: Brad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rakerd
authors.forename: Antony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joseph
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001302:Audiometry, Speech / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception; D008297:Male; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D012016:Reference Values