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Loudness and Sound Category: Their Distinct Roles in Shaping Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Soundscapes
Mercede Erfanian1,2, Tin Oberman3, Maria Chait2
1Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering, University College London, London WC1H 0NN, United Kingdom ucbqmer@ucl.ac.uk.
Eneuro
|September 4, 2025
Summary
Loudness, not just sound origin, drives physiological arousal from mechanical sounds. Subjective perceptions of pleasantness and eventfulness also significantly influence these automatic, unconscious reactions.
Area of Science:
- Auditory perception
- Psychoacoustics
- Human-computer interaction
Background:
- Mechanical sounds typically elicit higher arousal than nature sounds.
- It's debated if this arousal is due to sound intensity or other factors like sound origin.
- Understanding these responses is crucial for evaluating acoustic environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of sound category (nature vs. mechanical) and loudness on physiological arousal and subjective soundscape perception.
- To differentiate the effects of sound intensity from acoustic or semantic factors.
- To assess the utility of Skin Conductance Response (SCR) in evaluating soundscape perception.
Main Methods:
- Measured Skin Conductance Response (SCR), pleasantness, and eventfulness in 25 healthy adults.
- Used auditory stimuli categorized as nature or mechanical sounds, manipulated for loudness.
- Employed passive and active listening tasks.
Main Results:
- Sound category significantly influenced perceived pleasantness and eventfulness.
- Mean SCR was modulated by loudness, but not sound category.
- SCR rise-time correlated with subjective pleasantness and eventfulness for both sound types.
Conclusions:
- Loudness is a primary driver of physiological arousal (mean SCR).
- Subjective perceptions (pleasantness, eventfulness) also shape arousal responses, particularly dynamic SCR measures.
- SCR is a valuable tool for assessing perceptual soundscape evaluations, considering both physical properties and subjective experience.
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