Wanted and Unwanted Sounds and Their Affects on the Psychological and Physiological Performance

3693 Words8 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Power of Music To Reduce Stress

Wanted and Unwanted Sounds and Their Affects on the Psychological and Physiological Performance

Research Question:

How does “unwanted” sound affect the physiological and psychological performance differently than “wanted” sound?

Thesis statement:

“Wanted” and “unwanted” sounds have the same physiological effects on the human body but effect its psychological performance differently.

Introduction:

Sound is a particular auditory impression perceived by the sense of hearing. The presence of unwanted sound is called noise pollution. This unwanted sound can seriously damage and effect physiological and psychological health. For instance, noise pollution can cause annoyance and aggression, hypertension, high stress levels, tinnitus, hearing loss, and other harmful effects depending on the level of sound, or how loud it is.

Furthermore, stress and hypertension are the leading causes to heart problems, whereas tinnitus can lead to forgetfulness, severe depression and at times panic attacks.

Everything from the sound of an alarm clock in the morning to the sound of an airplane passing by to the sound of your friend screaming at you can cause noise pollution, and leave you effected for a short period, or for the rest of your life. But not all sound is “unwanted”. Many people listen to music, and go out to clubs and parties without suffering from any of the negative symptoms of “unwanted” sound. Many people enjoy playing instruments like the piano or the trumpet. “Wanted” sound, unlike “unwanted” sound can relief stress, and relaxation and the calming of a person. However on the physiological aspects, “wanted” sound can be just as harmful as “unwanted sound”. There are many misconceptions about sound and hearing, and the greatest misconception is about loud sound not being harmful as long as it is wanted.

Literature Review:

The human body perceives sound through the sensory organ called the ear. Humans have two ears, where sound waves enter and transform into signals that can be perceived as “hearing”. Hearing is a complicated process. Everything that moves makes a sound.

Sound consists of vibrations that travel in waves which enter the ear and are changed into nerve signals that are sent to the brain. The brain interprets the signals as sounds.

Sound is measured in decibels (dB), where zero is the lower limit of audibility, and 130...

... middle of paper ...

...cago.

6. Wagman, Richard J. The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia. Volume Two. J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company: Chicago.

7. Wagman, Richard J. The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia. Volume Three. J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company: Chicago.

8. World Book 1998 Multimedia Encyclopedia. “Ear”

9. World Book 1998 Multimedia Encyclopedia. “Hearing”

10. World Book 1998 Multimedia Encyclopedia. “Deafness(Types of hearing loss)

11. Readers Digest. ABC’s of the Human Body: “The Ear, Nose, and Throat”, pages 208-209

12. Murray, John.Introduction to Human And Social Biology. Little, Brown and Company.

13. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. Ninth Edition:1980, pages 108-109

14. The World Book Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. Chicago:1989. Volume 14, pages 455-456.

15. The World Book Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. Chicago:1989. Volume 18, pages 599-606.

16. Fay, Thomas H. Noise & Health. The New York Academy of Medicine: 1991.

17. Casa de Maria Research Center. “Sound Therapy”

18. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

19. Carassava, Anthee.Mad About the Noise. Time Magazine: July 27, 1998.

20. Dr. Damluji (Interview).

Show More
Related

  • 2-butoxyethanol Essay

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    The MSDS, or material safety data sheet, for 2-butoxyethanol outlines basic health risks that accompany it, along with basic chemical and physical properties. One of the physical properties is the fact that it is a liquid at room temperature, which means it takes the shape of its container and its molecules are not definitively packed. Chemical properties include flammability, which is whether or not it ignites easily, and toxicity, whether or not it is poisonous to humans. 2-butoxyethanol is both flammable and toxic, meaning it does ignite easily and is poisonous to humans It says that 2-butoxyethanol has a health hazard number of two and fire hazard number of two. The health hazard number means that it can cause injury upon exposure and requires rapid medical treatment. The fire hazard number means that it can ignite w...

    Read More

  • Coccyx Essay

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology Third Edition by Eldra Pear Soloman (pgs. 51 and 58)

    Read More

  • Health Promotion Among Hispanic Minority

    1890 Words  | 4 Pages

    Page-Reeves, J., Niforatos, J., Mishra, S., Regino, L., Gingrich, A., & Bulten, J. (2011). Health

    Read More

  • Music and the Brain

    2088 Words  | 5 Pages

    For any individual who either avidly listens to or performs music, it is understood that many melodies have amazing effects on both our emotions and our perception. To address the effects of music on the brain, it seems most logical to initially map the auditory and neural pathways of sound. In the case of humans, the mechanism responsible for receiving and transmitting sound to the brain are the ears. Briefly stated, the outer ear (or pinna) 'catches' and amplifies sound by funneling it into the ear canal. Interestingly, the outer ear serves only to boost high frequency sound components (1). The resonance provided by the outer ear also serves in amplifying a higher range of frequencies corresponding to the top octave of the piano key board. The air pressure wave travels through the ear canal to ultimately reach and vibrate the timpanic membrane (i.e.-- the eardrum). At this particular juncture, the pressure wave energy of sound is translated into mechanical energy via the middle ear. Here, three small bones, the ossicles, vibrate in succession to produce a unique pattern of movements that embodies the frequencies contained in every sound we are capable of hearing. The middle ear is also an important component in what music we actually keep out of our 'head'. The muscles grasping the ossicles can contract to prevent as much as two thirds of the sound from entering the inner ear. (1, 2)

    Read More

  • Great Expectations for All

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    Unbeknown to Pip, he is the perfect victim for Mrs. Havisham’s revenge trap. Calloused from a deceitful lover; Miss Havisham raises Estella as a puppet in her attempt at revenge of the entire male population. Upon first meeting Pip, Estella abruptly insults Pip. Calling him course and making him feel obsolete. Entranced by the beauty of Estella Pip begins to become self conscience after these comments. Once he deemed himself inadequate Pip began to aspire to live up to Estella’s expectations, but he is unable to do so because Estella was raised to torment not to love.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is "insanity" and why is this subject of much controversy? Although I do not have a clear definition of insanity, most socially recognized authorities such as psychiatrists, medical doctors, and lawyers agree that it is a brain disease. However, in assuming it is a brain disease, should we link insanity with other brain diseases like strokes and Parkinsonism? Unlike the latter two, whose causes can be medically accounted for through a behavioral deficit such as paralysis, and weakness, how can one explain the behavior of crimes done by people like Hinckley? (2)

    Read More

  • Insanity Defense Essay

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order for someone to be found guilty of a crime they must have actus reus and mens rea. The insanity defense did not deal with the actus rea, but the question is whether or not the defendant knew wrongfulness of his crime. The right of this defense come from the fact that a person should not be liable if he is not capable mentally to know what he is doing and able to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. Although the insanity defense tactic is rarely used and rarely successful, defense lawyers sometimes have strategy behind the weak insanity defense. The success in the insanity defense will not be to prove that the defendant was insane at the time of the crime, but to achieve other goals based on the defendant

    Read More

  • Ill or Evil: The Insanity Defense

    1556 Words  | 4 Pages

    Insanity is one of those words used today that gets thrown around a lot. Our society has become so numb to it because we were it on a regular basis. Albert Einstein describes insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Albert Einstein may have been a genius, but in this case he is wrong. There are people in this world who are mentally insane and they can’t help themselves. On rare occasions people like this become killers. In the legal system we have a defense an accused murderer can use to show they were not in their right mind when the act occurred. This is the insanity defense. This happens in 1% of criminal trials in the United States (US). A perfect example of a case that used the insanity defense was Andrea Yates v The State of Texas.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    Insanity is a legal, not a medical definition. This makes mental illness and insanity correlate with each other, only some mental illnesses are consider as inanity. Insanity includes not only the mental, illness but also mental deficiencies. There are major problems in exactly how to apply a medical theory to legal matters. Every crime involves a physical and mental act and the non-physical cause of behavior. The mens rea is the mental element that would be required for a crime, if it is absent it excuses the criminal from criminal responsibility...

    Read More

  • What Stress Is

    2588 Words  | 6 Pages

    Weston, M. D. Know Your Body: The Atlas of Anatomy. Berkeley, CA: Marshall      Cavendish Books Limited, 2005

    Read More

  • Tobacco Cigarettes vs. Electronic Cigarettes

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. The Web. The Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Insanity Plea

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his proposal “Severe Personality-Disordered Defendants and the Insanity Plea in the United States,” George Palermo, a forensic psychiatrist, presents his thesis for the insanity plea to be reversed back to its previous definition. People who had personality disorders that could cause them to become psychotic for even a brief moment used to be eligible to receive the verdict not guilty by reason of insanity, before the United States restricted it to only people affected by mental illnesses. A mental illness is a disorder such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, which can cause a person to be unable to determine whether an act is right or wrong. It d...

    Read More

  • Defence Of Insanity Essay

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    The basis of insanity is upon M’Nagten Rules (1843) which set forward the principles of a defence when the “defendant had a defect of reason” or a “disease of the mind” and was not able to understand the nature of the act they did or did not know what they were doing was wrong. These three conditions must be proved for the defence of insanity to become available. Insanity is available for the all cases that require mens rea except for strict liability cases.

    Read More

  • Pip's Great Expectations

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pip comes from a lower class family of the Victorian era. The reader first meets Pip around the age of 6, when he explains that his parents, as well as 5 of his brothers, have all passed and he has been raised by his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, and her husband Joe Gargery. His sister continuously reminds Pip about her having brought him up “by hand” (Dickens 7) and even details her regrets about having taken him in as her own child saying “I’d never do it again!” (Dickens 8). Despite the rough upbringing, or perhaps because of the rough upbringing, Pip has high hopes of one day becoming a gentleman and continuously dreams of what his life will be like once he is part of the upper class. These aspirations indicate that Pip has great expectations for himself. He expects to become a perfect gentleman and climb the social status ladder. Soon after explaining his home situation, Pip describes to the reader of his encounter with Ms. Havisham, who he describes as “an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal hous...

    Read More

  • Food and Nutrition

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    "MedlinePlus - Health Information from the National Library of Medicine." National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. Web. 06 Mar. 2011.

    Read More

More about Wanted and Unwanted Sounds and Their Affects on the Psychological and Physiological Performance

Open Document