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One explanation for the adverse reaction is that the awful sound is similar to the warning call of a ], back in cave man days. However, a study using ]s, ]s, found that they react similarly to both high-pitched sounds similar to fingernails on chalkboard, and to amplitude-matched ]. In contrast, humans are less averse to the white noise than to scraping.<ref name=Highfield>{{cite news|publisher=]|date=2005-11-14|page=A6|author=Roger Highfield|title=Study seeks root of noises that annoy us}}</ref> One explanation for the adverse reaction is that the awful sound is similar to the warning call of a ], back in cave man days. However, a study using ]s, ]s, found that they react similarly to both high-pitched sounds similar to fingernails on chalkboard, and to amplitude-matched ]. In contrast, humans are less averse to the white noise than to scraping.<ref name=Highfield>{{cite news|publisher=]|date=2005-11-14|page=A6|author=Roger Highfield|title=Study seeks root of noises that annoy us}}</ref>


A 1986 study used a tape-recording of a three-pronged garden tool similar to a ] being "]" across a chalkboard, which roughly reproduces the sound of fingernails on chalkboard. The recording was then manipulated, removing pitches at the extremities and the median. The results were then played back. It was determined that the median pitches are in fact the primary cause of the adverse reaction, not the highest pitches as previously thought. The authors hypothesized that it was due to predation early in human evolution; the sound bore some resemblances to the alarm call of ]s, or it may have been similar to the call of some predator.<ref name=study>{{cite web|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/q854vk3k33x8nw57/fulltext.pdf|title=Psychoacoustics of a chilling sound|work=]|pages=77–80|publisher=]|year=1986|author=Lynn Halpern, Randolph Blake, & James Hillenbrand|format=PDF}}</ref>{{deadlink|date=December 2015}} This research won one of the authors, Randolph Blake, an ] in 2006.<ref name="Ig Nobel prize">{{cite web|url=http://www.physorg.com/news79531741.html|title=Fingernails on a Chalkboard Garner Psychologist Ig Nobel Prize|date=2006-10-08|accessdate=2008-04-09}}</ref> More recent research contradicts this hypothesis.<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=]|title=Scraping sounds and disgusting noises|author=Trevor J. Cox|year=2008|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V1S-4RJ4KPP-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=ac5160ddc21306e1b5382c4ec3b41b88|postscript=<!--None-->|doi=10.1016/j.apacoust.2007.11.004|volume=69|issue=12|pages=1195–1204}}</ref> A 1986 study used a tape-recording of a three-pronged garden tool similar to a ] being "]" across a chalkboard, which roughly reproduces the sound of fingernails on chalkboard. The recording was then manipulated, removing pitches at the extremities and the median. The results were then played back. It was determined that the median pitches are in fact the primary cause of the adverse reaction, not the highest pitches as previously thought. The authors hypothesized that it was due to predation early in human evolution; the sound bore some resemblances to the alarm call of ]s, or it may have been similar to the call of some predator.<ref name=study>{{cite web|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/q854vk3k33x8nw57/fulltext.pdf|title=Psychoacoustics of a chilling sound|work=]|pages=77–80|publisher=]|year=1986|author1=Lynn Halpern |author2=Randolph Blake |author3=James Hillenbrand |format=PDF}} {{dead link|date=December 2015}}</ref> This research won one of the authors, Randolph Blake, an ] in 2006.<ref name="Ig Nobel prize">{{cite web|url=http://www.physorg.com/news79531741.html|title=Fingernails on a Chalkboard Garner Psychologist Ig Nobel Prize|date=2006-10-08|accessdate=2008-04-09}}</ref> More recent research contradicts this hypothesis.<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=]|title=Scraping sounds and disgusting noises|author=Trevor J. Cox|year=2008|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V1S-4RJ4KPP-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=ac5160ddc21306e1b5382c4ec3b41b88|postscript=<!--None-->|doi=10.1016/j.apacoust.2007.11.004|volume=69|issue=12|pages=1195–1204}}</ref>


==The physical hypothesis== ==The physical hypothesis==


A 2011 study by ] Michael Oehler and Christoph Reuter<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1121/1.3655174 | volume=130 | title=Psychoacoustics of chalkboard squeaking | journal=] | pages=2545}}</ref> led its authors to hypothesize that the unpleasantness of the sound is caused by ] due to the shape of the human ] which ], especially those in the range of 2000 to 4000 Hz (the median pitches mentioned above), at such a level that the sound would trigger pain in human ears.<ref>http://acoustics.org/pressroom/httpdocs/162nd/Oehler_4pPP6.html</ref> A 2011 study by ] Michael Oehler and Christoph Reuter<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1121/1.3655174 | volume=130 | title=Psychoacoustics of chalkboard squeaking | journal=] | pages=2545}}</ref> led its authors to hypothesize that the unpleasantness of the sound is caused by ] due to the shape of the human ] which ], especially those in the range of 2000 to 4000&nbsp;Hz (the median pitches mentioned above), at such a level that the sound would trigger pain in human ears.<ref>http://acoustics.org/pressroom/httpdocs/162nd/Oehler_4pPP6.html</ref>


==See also== ==See also==

Revision as of 21:40, 28 May 2016

Scraping a chalkboard (also known as a blackboard) with the fingernails produces a sound and feeling which most people find extremely irritating. The basis of the innate reaction to the sound has been studied in the field of psychoacoustics (the branch of psychology concerned with the perception of sound and its physiological effects).

The primate heritage hypothesis

One explanation for the adverse reaction is that the awful sound is similar to the warning call of a primate, back in cave man days. However, a study using Cotton-top tamarins, New World monkeys, found that they react similarly to both high-pitched sounds similar to fingernails on chalkboard, and to amplitude-matched white noise. In contrast, humans are less averse to the white noise than to scraping.

A 1986 study used a tape-recording of a three-pronged garden tool similar to a fork being "grided" across a chalkboard, which roughly reproduces the sound of fingernails on chalkboard. The recording was then manipulated, removing pitches at the extremities and the median. The results were then played back. It was determined that the median pitches are in fact the primary cause of the adverse reaction, not the highest pitches as previously thought. The authors hypothesized that it was due to predation early in human evolution; the sound bore some resemblances to the alarm call of macaque monkeys, or it may have been similar to the call of some predator. This research won one of the authors, Randolph Blake, an Ig Nobel Prize in 2006. More recent research contradicts this hypothesis.

The physical hypothesis

A 2011 study by musicologists Michael Oehler and Christoph Reuter led its authors to hypothesize that the unpleasantness of the sound is caused by acoustic resonance due to the shape of the human ear canal which amplifies certain frequencies, especially those in the range of 2000 to 4000 Hz (the median pitches mentioned above), at such a level that the sound would trigger pain in human ears.

See also

References

  1. Roger Highfield (2005-11-14). "Study seeks root of noises that annoy us". The Vancouver Sun. p. A6.
  2. Lynn Halpern; Randolph Blake; James Hillenbrand (1986). "Psychoacoustics of a chilling sound" (PDF). Perception & Psychophysics. Psychonomic Society. pp. 77–80.
  3. "Fingernails on a Chalkboard Garner Psychologist Ig Nobel Prize". 2006-10-08. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  4. Trevor J. Cox (2008). "Scraping sounds and disgusting noises". Applied Acoustics. 69 (12): 1195–1204. doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2007.11.004.
  5. "Psychoacoustics of chalkboard squeaking". Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 130: 2545. doi:10.1121/1.3655174.
  6. http://acoustics.org/pressroom/httpdocs/162nd/Oehler_4pPP6.html
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