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An Exploratory Study of Physiologic and Subjective Reactions Evoked by Aversive and Non-aversive Sounds.

Shiflett-SG; Jamvold-DC

Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, 1972:116 pages

00117601

Correlations between subjective and physiologic responses to sound were investigated. Sixteen subjects were exposed to tape recordings of various aversive and nonaversive sounds. Initial reactions, accommodation and adaptation to repeated exposures, and reaction modification by pairing sounds with visual or verbal positive or negative contextual materials were evaluated. Heart rate, blood pressure, gastrointestinal motility, galvanic skin response, and biochemical indicators were measured as physiological responses, and affective and semantic rating scales were used as subjective responses. Aversive and nonaversive sounds did not generally elicit consistent differences in physiologic reactions; only gastrointestinal motility changes provided some stimuli differentiation. Subjective ratings of sounds correlated with gastrointestinal motility changes; the relationship was greater for nonaversive than aversive sounds. Physiological responses after repeated exposures indicated some accommodation. When paired with favorable contextual material, subjective responses to certain aversive stimuli were temporarily modified; a similar phenomenon occurred when non aversive stimuli were paired with negative contextual material. Physiological responses to either stimuli were not affected by the contextual material. The authors conclude that physiological responses to sound bear uncertain relationships to subjective aversive/nonaversive judgements.

NIOSH-Contract; Contract-099-71-0039; Humans; Physiology; Psychological-factors; Noise; Physiological-function; Physiological-measurements; Hearing-threshold;

19720101

Contract;

1972

PB85-220671

A07

Contract-099-71-0039

Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, 116 pages, 63 references

TX;