Annoying Sounds
In the Second Exam in Perception in the Fall
Term, 2010, this question appeared:
In a recent psychological
study of annoying
sounds, the winner was a scraping sound made by dragging a knife across a cast
iron skillet. Great experiment! But, another annoying sound might have won if
the experiment had included it. Which one?
Here are the answers
a fire alarm
a nail file on a
fingernail is physically painful
to me, so that would win. a crying child.
alarm clock (2)
ambulances and fire
trucks in the NYC streets
auditorium chairs
squeaking as someone stands up -- kind of like the ones in this room
car breaks screeching
cell phone ringing/
vibrating?
chalk on a blackboard (7)
chewing on aluminum foil
crumpling paper
dragging nails across a
chalkboard (19)
gum chewing (2)
gum chewing with mouth
open
high pitched tone produced
by a microphone when it is not set properly
human teeth biting or
scraping against a fork is unbearable
loud crying baby!
my biology lab
instructors voice
my five year old brother
screeching when he is put in a time out.
my roommate saying Im
going to go night night at 10:30 on Saturday night
my suitemate who blows her
nose so loudly when I am trying to sleep or study or eat or relax
my suitemates
alternative music. It sounds shockingly similar to the
knife-across-cast-iron-skillet sound
Nintendos make on long
plane flights
pens clicking
repetitively
people when they inhale
mucus in their nose rather than blowing their nose. that sound is both annoying
and disgusting
scraping on a chalkboard
scratching chalk &
nails against a blackboard while simultaneously playing electronica music &
accompanying fire engine sirens from outside & squeak of heater turning on a symphony!
screeching of the subway
sliding a metal based
desk on a board floor. ouch!
someone chewing on ice
someone eating a banana
the laugh track from any
American sitcom
the screeching wheels of
cars
the sick kid sitting
across from you in Butler sniffing up his snot every five seconds
the squeaking of some
phantom chair in the back of the room right now during this exam.
the street sweeper
the subway abruptly
breaking. especially if its coming from the opposite direction of the train
youre waiting for
wet rubber sole of shoe
dragged across linoleum