Research duo uncovers clues about why 'fingernails across a chalkboard' is so horrible
Thursday, November 3, 2011 - 09:00
in Psychology & Sociology
(Medical Xpress) -- Proving that science isn’t always just fun and games, two researchers with music backgrounds have conducted experiments to get to the bottom of why people are so adversely effected by certain noises such as a fork dragged across a plate, Styrofoam squeaking or most famously, fingernails dragged across a chalk board. Christoph Reuter from the University of Vienna’s Musicological Institute and Michael Oehler of Macromedia University for Media and Communication in Germany, have managed to enlist volunteers to listen to such sounds while having their biological signs measured for reactions. They will be giving a presentation on their findings to the Acoustical Society of America today.
