Cringe.

Right?
Emotion in Unpleasant
Sound

Vincent Jung - Independent Research

What is sound?

➔ Travel of vibrations through a medium

◆ Ex. guitar string, banging a table
➔ String vibrates body of instrument, which transfers vibrations to air
➔ Sound is heard through ears
What I’m Researching

➔ How our brains process auditory stimuli

➔ Why we feel the way we do when listening to something (like nails on a
chalkboard)
How the Ear Works

➔ Sound travels through the ear canal and vibrates the eardrum
➔ This vibrates three bones that increase the mechanical output
➔ These bones vibrate the fluid in the cochlea
➔ These move sensory hairs in your ear
Why are some sounds unpleasant?

➔ Visual cues
➔ Automatic response to protect your ears (2000-4000 Hz)
➔ Human speech range

➔ ...or maybe it’s all just an illusion

Research experiment

➔ Programmed on Scratch.mit.edu
➔ Google Forms questionnaire
➔ Subjects randomly selected for two experiments:
◆ Press a button to play an unpleasant sound
◆ Countdown timer, sound is played
➔ Afterwards, subjects rated the unpleasantness on a scale

Hypothesis: Control over the sound would decrease unpleasantness

What do these results mean?

➔ Overall, very similar data

➔ Low points in each of the data
➔ Weird, right?
➔ People perceive sounds in different ways
➔ No middle ground
➔ Weak support for hypothesis
What should we do next?

➔ More data needed

➔ Future experiments could focus on:
◆ Countdown timer vs. no timer (Experiment 2)
◆ Color/Placement of button (Experiment 1)
◆ Length of time before sound is played (Experiment 2)
Concluding all this…

➔ Lots of factors affect human perception

➔ Maybe…
References
References

[Brain symbol]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pluspng.com/brain-png-507.html

[A cochlea that has been opened to see the nerve cells inside]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://blog.medel.com/photographic-tour-of-the-cochlea/

Draw, drawing, edit, graphic, pen, pencil, write icon [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/4864957/draw_drawing_edit_graphic_pen_pencil_write_icon

PNG images: Ear [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.transparentpng.com/cats/ear-1143.html

Sound png icon [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.freeiconspng.com/img/35754

Stethoscope medical tool [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.freepik.com/free-icon/stethoscope-medical-tool_720707.htm

Thought bubble transparent PNG [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.stickpng.com/img/miscellaneous/conversations/thought-bubble

Woman scratches the blackboard with her long nails stock photo [Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/nails-on-chalkboard?istockcollection=&mediatype=photography&phrase=nails%20on%20chalkboard&sort=best
Questions?