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The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of preference for rock music on magnitude-production scaling behavior in young adults as an attempt to validate further the 1993 magnitude-estimation scaling results obtained by Fucci, Harris, Petrosino, and Banks. Two groups of young adults, 20 who liked rock music and 20 who disliked rock music, were tested. Subjects were instructed to adjust the intensity of a 10-sec. sample of rock music in response to seven written stimuli presented in random order. Analysis indicated that there was a significant difference in performance by the two groups of subjects on the magnitude-production scaling task. Those subjects who liked rock music adjusted the intensity of the music to higher levels than did the subjects who disliked rock music.

17 subjects provided magnitude estimations in the form of quality judgments of a filtered speech stimulus which was a nonsense sentence containing all of the consonants of English from Fairbanks. It was presented to subjects at 8 high-pass and 8 low-pass filtering conditions. Consistent magnitude estimations to the filtered stimulus were similar for both conditions. Also, for both conditions, subjects' numerical responses consistently increased in value as stimulus quality was judged to be poorer.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of preference for rock music on magnitude-estimation scaling behavior in young adults. Two groups of young adults, 20 who liked rock music and 20 who did not like rock music, were tested. Subjects were instructed to assign numerical values to a random series of nine suprathreshold intensity levels of a 10-second sample of rock music. Analysis indicated that there was a difference in performance by the two groups of subjects on the magnitude-estimation scaling task. The subjects who liked rock music provided significantly lower mean numerical responses than the subjects who did not like rock music for all nine suprathreshold intensities.

The purpose of the present experiment was to determine the extent of hearing threshold shift that may occur during an auditory magnitude-estimation task involving stimulus intensities as great as 80 dB sensation level. Also, possible influences of hearing threshold shift on numerical magnitude-estimation responses and magnitude-function slopes were investigated. Results indicated that hearing threshold shift was insignificant (1–2 dB). Consistent small increases in numerical magnitude responses were observed on a magnitude-estimation task where hearing thresholds were retested between stimulus presentations versus a magnitude-estimation task where hearing thresholds were not retested. The stability of auditory magnitude functions across different conditions in the current investigation was in agreement with vibrotactile magnitude-scaling behavior observed by Fucci, et al. in 1989 and 1991. The over-all results supported the concept of an absolute, internal sensory-scaling mechanism being operable during magnitude estimation of auditory stimuli as discussed by Zwislocki and Goodman in 1980.

The present experiment was a preliminary attempt to employ the psychophysical scaling methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching to investigate suprathreshold auditory and lingual vibrotactile sensation magnitude responses for normal-speaking young adults ( N = 20) and young adult stutterers ( N = 7). A 1000-Hz binaural auditory stimulus and a 250-Hz lingual vibrotactile stimulus were employed for both procedures. Results indicated that the stutterers tended to use more restricted response ranges than the normal speakers for auditory magnitude scaling, and lower response ranges than the normal speakers for lingual vibrotactile magnitude scaling.

The human tongue, because it is mucosal in nature and housed within the oral cavity, presents a unique set of problems for suprathreshold vibrotactile magnitude scaling. It was hypothesized that the ideal response mode when testing the lingual structure would entail a single set of stimulus-level judgments to be made by a subject so that fatigue effects and overall subject discomfort associated with lingual vibrotactile suprathreshold testing could be reduced. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the possible effects that single-session repetitive judgments would have on lingual vibrotactile magnitude estimation outcome. Twenty subjects (M age = 23.25 years) participated in a single-session magnitude estimation paradigm which required them to make three magnitude estimation judgments at each of nine stimulus intensity levels. The three data runs were statistically analyzed using a multivariate mixed-model analysis of variance. There appeared to be no statistical differences between the three magnitude scaling runs at any of the nine sensation levels, whether they were compared separately or in all possible combinations, when alpha was set at .05. The results are discussed as being supportive of the possibility that a single set of response judgments can be employed in lingual vibrotactile magnitude scaling. Factors associated with the single-response set, such as ability to run more subjects in less time, better assurance of open-ended responses from subjects, and the increased likelihood of subject response spontaneity are also discussed.

This study represents the first attempt to generate magnitude-estimation and magnitude-balance functions for the human tongue. Vibrotactile magnitude scales for the tongue and thenar eminence of the hand were investigated for nine adult subjects. The methods of magnitude estimation and magnitude production were used to obtain magnitude-balance functions for both structures. The magnitude-estimation task resulted in magnitude functions for the tongue which were similar in slope value to those found for the thenar eminence. The magnitude-production task also gave magnitude functions which were similar in slope value for the two structures.

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of stimulus duration on vibrotactile sensation magnitude for the lingual dorsal surface and the thenar eminence of the right hand through use of the psychophysical scaling method of magnitude estimation. Magnitude estimation values for the tongue and hand were derived from 20 normal young adults. Measurements were made at a frequency of 250 Hz with stimulus durations of 100, 500, and 1,000 msec. Results showed the upper power function exponents to be steeper at all three stimulus durations for the lingual dorsal surface than for the thenar eminence, and the exponents for both the tongue and hand were smaller for 1,000 msec than for 100 msec. Pearson product moment correlations were performed on the subject magnitude estimation responses for the three stimulus durations. The durational correlations were performed independently for both test structures. Correlation coefficients for both test structures at all three stimulus durations tended to increase as stimulus intensity was increased. The correlation coefficients did not reflect changes in the relationship between individual subject responses as a result of stimulus durational changes at any of the sensation levels tested. Results are compared to previous research and discussed in terms of internal scaling mechanisms and learning effect.

The possible relationship between threshold and suprathreshold responses for the lingual tactile system was investigated. Lingual vibrotactile thresholds and suprathreshold magnitude function exponents were correlated for 26 adult subjects. A statistical analysis of the correlations indicated that there was no significant relationship between thresholds and exponents. Vibrotactile threshold and suprathreshold information may be useful in increasing understanding of the complexities of oral somesthesis.

The methods of magnitude estimation and magnitude production were employed to investigate the effects of stimulus frequency on suprathreshold lingual-vibrotactile sensation-magnitude functions. The method of magnitude estimation was used to obtain numerical judgments of sensation magnitudes for nine stimulus intensities presented to the anterior dorsum of the tongue. The vibrotactile stimulus frequencies employed for 10 subjects ( M age = 21.1 yr.) were 100, 250, and 400 Hz. The numerical responses obtained during the magnitude-estimation task were in turn used as stimuli to obtain magnitude-production values for the same three vibrotactile stimulus frequencies. The results appeared to present two suggestions. First, the effects of stimulus frequency on lingual vibrotactile-sensation magnitudes may be dependent on the psychophysical method used in any particular experiment. Second, lingual-vibrotactile magnitude-estimation scales may demonstrate asymptotic growth functions above about 25 dB sensation level. The limitation in the growth of sensation magnitude occurred for all three vibrotactile stimulus frequencies employed.

The method of vibrotactile mangitude production scaling was used to determine the tactile sensory-perceptual integrity for the dorsum of the tongue and thenar eminence of the right hand for 10 fluent speakers and 10 stutterers. It was discovered that both groups performed the task in a similar manner for the thenar eminence of the hand (a nonoral structure) but in a dissimilar manner for the tongue (an oral structure). From these data, it is suggested that the stutterers may maintain a different internal sensory-perceptual process for the tactile system involved in the speech process. The possibility exists that stuttering, for some, may be an “internal disorder” of the tactile-proprioceptive feedback mechanism that is directly involved in speech production.

This study was designed to investigate possible relationships between threshold and suprathreshold lingual tactile processes, and to determine how accurately mean suprathreshold scaling values represent the behavior of individual subjects. Lingual vibrotactile threshold and suprathreshold values were obtained from 26 normal young adults. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant correlation between the threshold and suprathreshold data. It was also determined that mean sensation magnitude values may not accurately represent the behavior of individual subjects.

The present investigation attempted to look at possible influences that the obtainment of vibrotactile threshold might have on the power function exponent derived from magnitude production scaling. Two groups of six subjects each provided vibrotactile magnitude functions for the lingual dorsum and thenar eminence of the right hand. Group 1 was required to provide a series of vibrotactile thresholds on the test structures prior to scaling. Group 2 performed the scaling task only. Results showed that the inclusion of the threshold task within the test paradigm had no influence on the subsequent scaling activity.

Studies of lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation scaling have focused primarily on the responses of normal young adults. Little is known about the scaling responses of young children to suprathreshold vibratory stimulation because of the complexities of the experimental procedure. Binaural auditory masking is one aspect of the procedure that has recently been studied in adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of binaural auditory masking on lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation responses of young children. Four children whose mean age was 4.6 yr. completed magnitude-estimation scaling tasks for eight lingual vibrotactile suprathreshold intensity levels (6, 10, 16, 20, 26, 30, 36, 40 dB SL) under masking and no masking conditions. Results suggest possible effects of auditory masking on the lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation scaling responses of these young children that have not been found for such responses of adults.

Lingual vibrotactile suprathreshold sensation magnitudes were investigated across four age groups ( M ages = 7.8 yr., 193 yr., 45.2 yr., and 57.0 yr, age range = 5 to 64 yr.) by employing the psychophysical methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching. Lingual vibrotactile stimuli were presented in combination with auditory stimuli for the cross-modal matching task. For lingual vibrotactile magnitude estimation, both the upper and lower power functions were steeper for the oldest age group. The power functions for cross-modal matching in which the vibratory stimulus was the standard showed asymptotic growth at about 25-dB sensation level for the three older age groups, but not for the youngest age group. Straight-line power functions were obtained for all age groups on the cross-modal matching task when the auditory stimulus was the standard, with the older aged subjects making larger lingual vibrotactile magnitude adjustments to the lower level auditory stimuli than the younger aged subjects. These results are discussed in relation to neurophysiological and behavioral changes which occur during development and aging.

Cross-modal matching functions for eight intensity levels of a 1000-Hz auditory stimulus and a 250-Hz lingual vibrotactile stimulus were obtained for two groups of subjects. Group 1 adjusted the vibrotactile stimulus to match the auditory stimulus, and Group 2 adjusted the auditory stimulus to match the vibrotactile stimulus. Stimulus-pulse durations and interstimulus intervals were varied over six experimental conditions for both groups. The variations in stimulus-pulse durations and interstimulus intervals had no appreciable effect on mean matching-function exponents for the two groups. A possible regression effect consistent with data from other psychophysical scaling studies was noted for matching functions of the two stimuli.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate possible effects of exposure upon suprathreshold psychological responses when auditory magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching with audition as the standard are conducted within the same experiment. Four groups of 10 subjects each whose over-all age range was 18 to 23 yr. were employed. During the cross-modal marching task the Groups 1 and 2 subjects adjusted a vibrotactile stimulus presented to the dorsal surface of the tongue and the Groups 3 and 4 subjects adjusted a vibrotactile stimulus presented to the thenar eminence of the right hand to match binaurally presented auditory stimuli. The magnitude-estimation task was conducted before the cross-modal matching task for Groups 1 and 3 and the cross-modal matching task was conducted before the magnitude-estimation task for Groups 2 and 4. The psychophysical methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching showed no effect of one upon the other when used in the same experiment.

Auditory masking has become a frequently employed part of the procedure used in vibrotactile research. Research investigating the effect of auditory masking on lingual vibrotactile thresholds of sensitivity has shown that there is little difference between lingual vibrotactile thresholds under masking and no masking conditions. The purpose of the present study was to extend the investigation of the effect of auditory masking to include lingual vibrotactile suprathreshold scaling responses. 20 young adult subjects of mean age 19 yr. completed lingual vibrotactile-threshold and magnitude-estimation scaling tasks under conditions of bilateral auditory masking and no masking. Similar lingual vibrotactile-threshold values and magnitude-estimation power-function exponents for the conditions of masking and no masking were noted.

The purpose of the present study was to determine if lingual vibrotactile threshold shifts occurred during magnitude-estimation scaling of suprathreshold stimuli presented to the dorsal surface of the tongue. Possible relationships of the lingual vibrotactile threshold shifts to suprathreshold stimulus intensity, magnitude-estimation responses, and overall scaling behavior were explored. A single group of 24 subjects with an age range of 18 to 22 years participated in this study. Each subject performed two magnitude-estimation tasks. In one of the tasks, threshold of sensitivity was determined after every suprathreshold numerical response of the subject. If a threshold shift was recorded, threshold was allowed to return to the pretest baseline level before continuing to the next suprathreshold stimulus presentation. The results showed that threshold shift did occur during lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation scaling, and that it was related to suprathreshold stimulus intensity. The results also showed that the numerical magnitude-estimation responses of the subjects were different for the two scaling tasks. Overall scaling behavior of the subjects in the form of power-function exponents was not different for the two tasks.

The stability of oral and nonoral vibrotactile magnitude scales produced by the method of magnitude production was investigated for 11 adult subjects. Each subject was tested over four sessions separated by 1-wk. intervals. Data analyses included correlations across trials of power function slopes as well as individual adjustments of intensity. Analysis showed a lack of stability over time for the slope functions obtained on the thenar eminence but moderate stability for the functions obtained on the tongue. Individual adjustments on intensity showed consistently high correlations across trials and structures. It was concluded that the subjects' responses were guided by the imposed experimental variables and that each individual's scaling was not necessarily reflected by the correlations based on power function slopes established over the four trials.

The present study was designed to investigate possible residual effects of delayed auditory feedback on paragraph readings performed by normal speaking college students. No residual effect was shown under any of the experimental conditions employed.

Vibrotactile thresholds for 7 male stutterers and 7 normal-speaking men (age range for both groups = 19 to 32 yr.) were obtained from the right, midline, and left sides of the lingual dorsum, and the thenar eminences of both hands. The stutterers showed slightly higher (less sensitive) mean thresholds than the normal speakers for all three lingual test sites. This was not the case for the thresholds obtained from both hands. The preliminary data suggest that oral peripheral sensory integrity might be somewhat different for stutterers than for normal-speaking individuals.

Lingual vibrotactile suprathreshold sensation magnitudes were investigated across four age groups (mean ages = 7.8, 19.3, 45.2, and 57.0 years) by employing the psychophysical methods of magnitude estimation and cross‐modality matching. Lingual vibrotactile stimuli were presented in combination with auditory stimuli for the cross‐modality matching task. For lingual vibrotactile magnitude estimation, both the upper and lower power functions were steeper for the oldest age group. The power functions for cross‐modality matching in which the vibratory stimulus was the standard showed asymptotic growth at about 25‐dB sensation level for the three older age groups, but not for the youngest age group. Straight‐line power functions were obtained for all age groups on the cross‐modality matching task when the auditory stimulus was the standard, with the older aged subjects making larger lingual vibrotactile magnitude adjustments to the lower level auditory stimuli than the younger aged subjects. In summary, age‐related response differences did occur at suprathreshold levels of vibrotactile stimulation, and the psychophysical techniques employed appeared to be a noninvasive way to make judgments about suprathreshold functioning of the human tactile system as it changes with age.