Measurement and prediction of annoyance caused by time-varying highway noise

Twenty-eight audiologically normal adult subjects participated in a study designed to assess how well six noise-rating indices would predict the annoyance caused by 3-min recorded samples of traffic noise obtained from both nominally constant-speed and stop-and-go traffic. The study was performed in a laboratory simulating a home environment. Annoyance judgments were obtained through the use of a magnitude estimation technique involving a 10-point scale. Subjects were also asked if they could accept each of the 24 traffic sounds if heard on a regular basis in their homes. Data obtained indicate that the simpler noise-rating indices, such as the average sound level and the level exceeded 10% of the time, predict annoyance as well as, if not better than, complicated schemes incorporating a measure of either variability or rate-of-change of levels with time. Thus it appears that the measurement and computational burdens associated with these complicated schemes are unwarranted.