The only thing wrong with the term psychoacoustics is that it elides the difference between physiology and the ‘mind’. But it’s certainly the case the sound we perceive is not identical with the totality of acoustic phenomenon going on at any moment. The limited frequency range of human hearing (compared to creatures such as bats, dolphins, dogs, and elephants) assures that in itself. The phenomenon of ‘masking’, discovered in psychoacoustic research, really works, has no basis outside the human mind-body, and has proven to be worth billions in audio compression patents.

Working with acoustics and teaching psychoacoustics I’d say I’m happy that psychoacoustics appears more often in discussions. The field of psychoacoustics deals with how we interpret, perceive, and react to sound and sonic environments and as is stated above it is definitely a legitimate field of study. While the field of acoustics is the overarching field of studying sound and vibration, it focuses on the study of the physics behind sound and sound transmission starting from a vibrating object (for example vibration of vocal chords that produce speech) that is transmitted through a medium (usually air) and interacts with other objects (spatial boundaries such as room walls floor, furniture, or human beings etc) from that we specify sound with factors such as frequency, time duration and sound level. We also characterize sound transmission in space through factors such as reverberation time etc. As reverberation is mentioned – reverberation time is a way of determining how long sound lasts in a room (defined as the time it takes for sound to decrease 60 dB in level from a steady state) while reverberance is connected to how we perceive the resulting sound field.

The field of psychoacoustics focuses on making connections between the sounds physical qualities or characteristics with how we perceive them. One classic example of a psychoacoustic study is to study how changes in perception (given a hypothesis or a narrowed focus of study) changes with a given change in sound characteristics such as pitch shift (frequency variation) or change in sound level.

Psychacoustics definitely deals with meaning making and emotional effects, in fact this is a specific field of study within psychoacoustics called emoacoustics (yes, it is true). Example here:
http://omicsgroup.org/journals/emotional-responses-to-information-and-warning-sounds-2165-7556.1000106.php?aid=7643

Worth mentioning is that psychoacoustics is ONE way of studying sound perception where common methodologies are listening tests with questionnaires. There are other fields as way that employs other methodologies.

Finally – great work Varun!

While some of the factors described in this article relate exclusively to acoustics, not all of them do. The precedence effect that Varun opens the article with occurs exclusively within our perception. Psychoacoustics may seem like something you hear too frequently around the web and in forums lately, because people use the term in incorrect ways. It is the study of how our brain interprets sounds on a mechanical/fundamental level. Most people tend to think of it as how we interpret sound in terms of meaning or emotion. So, you’re argument that it does not exist is correct in that latter interpretation, but it is very much a legitimate field of study. It’s all down to the correct usage of the term.