Physiological Responses and Subjective Estimates of Sounds: Initial Results of Pilot Study

In an attempt to understand the effect of sounds on physiological measurements, along the positive (pleasant) negative (unpleasant) subjective dimension, 51 subjects (26 male) listened to 13 sounds in clips of 8s interspersed with 16s of silence while their heart rate, respiratory rate and skin conductance were measured and they recorded the subjective pleasantness of the sound. The sounds were in three categories, natural (eg birdsong) human (eg crying) and transportation (eg aircraft take-off). There were highly significant decreases in heart rate and significant increases in respiratory rate with some gender differences in response to the sounds. Initial analysis showed no significant correlation between the physiological measures and the subjective evaluations of the pleasantness of the sounds.