Responses to an extra credit question on the Second Exam in Perception, November, 2004.

Question: Some hotels now offer soothing sounds to lull a weary traveler to sleep. Would you prefer one of the classics (the pounding surf; Mother's heartbeat; the chirping of crickets; an ambulance en route to St. Luke's) or is there another sound that reliably sends you off to dreamland?

sound

incidence of report

ocean (sound of the surf)

13

classical music

5

falling rain

4

fan hum

3

radiator in dorm room

3

silence

2

white noise

2

soft classical music

1

chirping seabirds

1

quiet street mid-day

1

soft music

1

L train hum

1

noise (ambulance, chatter)

1

roommate typing on computer

1

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

1

"The Sounds of Yellowstone"

1

"Lady of Shalott"

1

sounds of night in Minnesota

1

the results of active noise cancellation

1

garbage trucks

1