[Mark DeBellis[_2_]]

On Jan 7, 9:24=A0pm, Dick Pierce wrote:
Mark DeBellis wrote:
Second, consider the following hypothetical example. =A0Two recorded
excerpts, A and B, are identical, except that A has some added
ultrasonic component that, over short spans of time, causes a
temporary reduction in loudness sensitivity. =A0Plausibly, the way A
sounds to the listener will not be the same as the way B sounds,
because the end of A will not have the same perceived loudness that
the end of B will have. =A0However, it's not going to be easy to test
for this simply by comparing the two excerpts. =A0If the listener
switches back and forth, the excerpts won't sound different, because
any reduction in sensitivity will affect the two equally. =A0And if the
listener hears one excerpt in its entirety and then the other, he/she
has the problem of comparing stimuli that are distant in time, which
requires memory, which is not necessarily reliable.

The second example, which I am granting is hypothetical, would be one
where we would want to say (I think) that the way A sounds is not the
same as the way B sounds, though they might well be indistinguishable
in the relevant testing situations.

Several points

1. The scenario you describe is one where the two would be
=A0 =A0 trivially distinguishable in all but the most simple of
=A0 =A0 measurements, thus it would be easy to test your hypothesis.


Why would they be distinguishable by the listener?