Laboratory study of the noticeability and annoyance of low signal-to-noise ratio sounds

Sneddon, Matthew; Pearsons, Karl S.; Fidell, Sanford

doi:10.3397/1.2839726

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…The importance of noticing in the perception of complex sound has already been stressed in earlier work concerning the emergence of noise annoyance. [17][18][19][20][21] It could be argued that the "non-noticed" background sound could affect mood, stress, and certainly health. However, in light of the application envisaged in this paper such higher-order effects are assumed to be of minor importance and are therefore not considered.…”

Section: A Definition Of a Notice-eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…16 Several authors have put forward the assumption that sound has to be noticed in order for it to contribute to an overall impression of annoyance. [17][18][19][20][21] Noticing depends on the characteristics of the sound ͑the most important being the signal-to-noise ratio͒ and on the observer listening and paying attention to the sound. The indicators do neither include this continuously active attention process nor account for the necessary co-occurrence of the listening process of the continuous sound.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A model for the perception of environmental sound based on notice-events

Coensel

Botteldooren²,

Muer³

et al. 2009

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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An approach is proposed to shed light on the mechanisms underlying human perception of environmental sound that intrudes in everyday living. Most research on exposure-effect relationships aims at relating overall effects to overall exposure indicators in an epidemiological fashion, without including available knowledge on the possible underlying mechanisms. Here, it is proposed to start from available knowledge on audition and perception to construct a computational framework for the effect of environmental sound on individuals. Obviously, at the individual level additional mechanisms (inter-sensory, attentional, cognitive, emotional) play a role in the perception of environmental sound. As a first step, current knowledge is made explicit by building a model mimicking some aspects of human auditory perception. This model is grounded in the hypothesis that long-term perception of environmental sound is determined primarily by short notice-events. The applicability of the notice-event model is illustrated by simulating a synthetic population exposed to typical Flemish environmental noise. From these simulation results, it is demonstrated that the notice-event model is able to mimic the differences between the annoyance caused by road traffic noise exposure and railway traffic noise exposure that are also observed empirically in other studies and thus could provide an explanation for these differences.

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Section: A Definition Of a Notice-eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A model for the perception of environmental sound based on notice-events

Coensel

Botteldooren²,

Muer³

et al. 2009

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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show abstract

“…The large variation in time makes the emissions not only well perceptible and intrusive but inhibits also habituation and impairs the adaption of the exposed persons. This view is supported by the older noticeability research, which demonstrated that annoyance was observed to be directly proportional to the detectability of the sounds [57][58][59]. Other research on traffic flow found rapidly alternating patterns of pass-by noise responsible for anomalies in annoyance [60].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Analysis of Psychoacoustic and Vibration-Related Parameters to Track the Reasons for Health Complaints after the Introduction of New Tramways

Cik

Lienhart

2016

Applied Sciences

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Abstract:Background: A change to new tramways in Graz (Austria) led to severe complaints in residential areas. To understand the underlying reasons for these complaints, a systematic measurement campaign was designed. Methods: Six locations in Graz and two locations in a comparably sized city were selected. Parallel indoor recordings of sound and vibrations were conducted from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. (due to sleep problems) at all locations. Results: Vibration levels remained below the limits of the Austrian standard (Wm-weighting) although variability was observed among sites, tram types and pass-bys. A complex characteristic of the acoustic feature space was found with A-weighting (differences between A-and C-weighting of more than 15 dB were observed). C-weighted background to peak noise ratios clearly distinguished "old" from "new" trams. Psychoacoustic indices indicated a high variability between locations and tram types. Roughness and loudness was higher in "new" versus "old" trams at most locations. "New" trams exhibited high sharpness values and variability, especially at higher speeds-when compared with trams from a control city. Conclusions: Standard indicators of sound and vibration were not sensitive enough to uncover the reasons for the complaints. Only the integrated analysis of the ambient soundscape (high signal-to-noise-ratio), the more noticeable sound (in psychoacoustic terms) and the observed high variance of the immissions provided guidance to implement appropriate technical solutions.

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“…Berglund and Lindvall (1995) established that situations in which high noise levels appear in short time periods are greatly annoying to the exposed population. Furthermore, several authors have suggested the assumption that sound events have to be noticed in order for them to contribute to an overall impression of annoyance (De Coensel et al, 2009;Fidell, Teffeteller, Horonjeff, & Green, 1979;Gjestland & Oftedal, 1980;Kjellberg, Landström, Tesarz, Söderberg, & Åkerlund, 1996;Schomer & Wagner, 1996;Sneddon, Pearsons, & Fidell, 2003). Their characteristics lead these events to attract surrounding attention toward urban noise, making listeners more aware of noise around them and causing them to selectively focus all their attention on it (De Coensel et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%