Figure 1.

Model of how auditory-motor prediction would affect perception under two competing hypotheses. In this example the left column illustrates objective levels of a standard sound and comparison sounds that presented 2 dB above and below the 70 dB level of the standard. The middle column shows how ‘sensory attenutation’ would predicts that the perceived loudness of an active sound is attenuated, which should make it easier to judge loudness relative to a higher volume comparison sound. Conversely, it should be harder to compare loudness with the lower comparison sound. We propose that active sounds benefit from sensorimotor processing which should improve loudness judgments regardless of whether the comparison sound level is above or below the standard.