| 1. |
- Alvarsson, Jesper J.
(författare)
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Perspectives on wanted and unwanted sounds in outdoor environments : Studies of masking, stress recovery, and speech intelligibility
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An acoustic environment contains sounds from various sound sources, some generally perceived as wanted, others as unwanted. This thesis examines the effects of wanted and unwanted sounds in acoustic environments, with regard to masking, stress recovery, and speech intelligibility.In urban settings, masking of unwanted sounds by sounds from water structures has been suggested as a way to improve the acoustic environment. However, Study I showed that the unwanted (road traffic) sound was better at masking the wanted (water) sound than vice versa, thus indicating that masking of unwanted sounds with sounds from water structures may prove difficult. Also, predictions by a partial loudness model of the auditory periphery overestimated the effect of masking, indicating that centrally located informational masking processes contribute to the effect. Some environments have also been shown to impair stress recovery; however studies using only auditory stimuli is lacking. Study II showed that a wanted (nature) sound improve stress recovery compared to unwanted (road traffic, ambient) sounds. This suggests that the acoustic environment influences stress recovery and that wanted sounds may facilitate stress recovery compared to unwanted sounds. An additional effect of unwanted sounds is impeded speech communication, commonly measured with speech intelligibility models. Study III showed that speech intelligibility starts to be negatively affected when the unwanted (aircraft sound) masker have equal or higher sound pressure level as the speech sound. Three models of speech intelligibility (speech intelligibility index, partial loudness and signal–to–noise ratio) predicted this effect well, with a slight disadvantage for the signal–to–noise ratio model. Together, Study I and III suggests that the partial loudness model is useful for determining effects of wanted and unwanted sounds in outdoor acoustic environments where variations in sound pressure level are large. But, in environments with large variations in other sound characteristics, models containing predictions of central processes would likely produce better results.The thesis concludes that wanted and unwanted characteristics of sounds in acoustic environments affect masking, stress recovery, and speech intelligibility, and that auditory perception models can predict these effects.
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| 2. |
- Andéhn, Mikael, 1982-
(författare)
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Place-of-Origin Effects on Brand Equity : Explicating the evaluative pertinence of product categories and association strength
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The country-of-origin effect - the alteration of judgment derived from an association to a place, is a much studied phenomenon with great potential implications for brand management and international marketing. However, in light of criticism towards the lack of conceptual development the extant literature, the relevance of the effect has been brought into question.Through an exploration of the psychology of the association between brands and places, the country-of-origin effect is reimagined focusing on the role of association strength as well as how the interplay between place and product categories can shape consumer attitudes.The results of a series of psychometric tests suggest that association strength and the interplay between place and product category constitute antecedent conditions that are crucial for determining if a country-of-origin effect will occur. These findings, and their implications for future research as well as for practice, suggest that a reevaluation of the country-of-origin effect with a widening of the scope to encompass the commercial relevance of place writ large is warranted.
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| 3. |
- Axelsson, Östen, et al.
(författare)
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A Swedish instrument for measuring soundscape quality
- 2009
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Ingår i: Euronoise 2009. - Edinburgh : Institute of Acoustics.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In 2008 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) decided to put together a new expert working group ISO/TC 43/SC 1/WG 54 named “Perceptual assessment of soundscape quality”. The purpose of this expert group is to propose the first ever, international standard on how to measure the perceived quality of soundscapes, by means of questionnaire techniques. This work is chiefly motivated by a need to harmonise methods in soundscape research internationally in order to improve the comparability of research results across countries and over time. Within the Swedish research program Soundscape Support to Health, the present authors developed such a technique based on field work and laboratory studies. In the present paper we present research in which we validated our initial findings and finalised our questionnaire protocol. We propose that the measurement of perceived soundscape quality must include: (1) identification of perceived sounds sources, such as, technological sounds, human sounds, and natural sounds, (2) classification of soundscape quality on a good–bad scale, and (3) qualitative measurement of a set of eight perceived-soundscape attributes defined in a two-dimensional Pleasantness–Eventfulness measurement model.
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| 4. |
- Axelsson, Östen, 1971-
(författare)
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Aesthetic Appreciation Explicated
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present doctoral thesis outlines a new model in psychological aesthetics, named the Information-Load Model. This model asserts that aesthetic appreciation is grounded in the relationship between the amount of information of stimuli and people’s capacity to process this information. This relationship results in information load, which in turn creates emotional responses to stimuli. Aesthetic appreciation corresponds to an optimal degree of information load. Initially, the optimal degree is relatively low. As an individual learns to master information in a domain (e.g., photography), the degree of information load, which corresponds to aesthetic appreciation, increases. The present doctoral thesis is based on three empirical papers that explored what factors determine aesthetic appreciation of photographs and soundscapes. Experiment 1 of Paper I involved 34 psychology undergraduates and 564 photographs of various motifs. It resulted in a set of 189 adjectives related to the degree of aesthetic appreciation of photographs. The subsequent experiments employed attribute scales that were derived from this set of adjectives. In Experiment 2 of Paper I, 100 university students scaled 50 photographs on 141 attribute scales. Similarly, in Paper II, 100 university students scaled 50 soundscapes on 116 attribute scales. In Paper III, 10 psychology undergraduates and 5 photo professionals scaled 32 photographs on 27 attribute scales. To explore the underlying structure of the data sets, they were subjected to Multidimensional Scaling and Principal Components Analyses. Four general components, related to aesthetic appreciation, were found: Familiarity, Hedonic Tone, Expressiveness, and Uncertainty. These components result from the higher-order latent factor Information Load that underlies aesthetic appreciation.
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| 5. |
- Axelsson, Östen, et al.
(författare)
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On sound source identification and taxonomy in soundscape research : Paper No. in10_780
- 2010
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Ingår i: Inter Noise 2010. - Lisbon, Portugal : Portuguese Acoustical Society.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sound source identification is typically the first step in a soundscape study. For comparability, a standardized sound source taxonomy and data collection methods are needed. Sound sources typically form three main categories: technological, human and natural sounds (e.g., road traffic, voices, and singing birds). These categories are meaningfully related to emotional responses to soundscapes. Technological sounds are typically judged unpleasant, natural sounds pleasant, whereas human sounds are eventful. Based on our empirical results we discuss how detailed a sound source taxonomy needs to be. We illustrate and conclude, it must state basic principles for how to categorize sound sources, and include clear examples without aiming to be exhaustive. Although standardized, related data collection methods must be flexible and allow adaption to unforeseen circumstances.
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| 6. |
- Axelsson, Östen, et al.
(författare)
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Sound Cities : Computational modelling of urban soundscape quality
- 2013
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Ingår i: Inter Noise 2013.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Whether to improve existing acoustic environments, as they are perceived or experienced and/or understood by people, in context (i.e., soundscapes), or to design future soundscapes it is central to have a prediction model that relates predictors (i.e., acoustic indicators) to outcomes (i.e., psychological variables). In the Sound Cities project it is proposed to use as outcome what Axelsson previously has termed Information Load. The purpose of the Sound Cities project is to identify what acoustic indicators may predict the information load of soundscapes. The method will be psychoacoustic experiments in which a large sample of naïve listeners will assess recordings of authentic acoustic environments with regards to information load. Acoustic signals and information-load data will be submitted to machine learning, based on music information retrieval technology. It is expected that the Sound Cities project will contribute to the underpinnings of future tools for soundscape planning and design, like soundscape maps that provide information on how people perceive the acoustic environment. This is in contrast to present noise maps, which only provide calculated sound-pressure levels from transportation and industry.
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| 7. |
- Axelsson, Östen, et al.
(författare)
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Soundscape assessment.
- 2005
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Ingår i: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - 0001-4966. ; 117:4, s. 2591-2592
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In order to improve the quality of the soundscape it is necessary to know its descriptive and evaluative properties, and the relationships between these properties. This was explored in a listening experiment with 100 participants (48 women, 52 men; mean age 25,6 years). Each participant scaled 5 out of 50 soundscapes with regard to 116 single verbal attributes, using a visual analogue scale of agreeableness. In addition, acoustical properties of the soundscapes were assessed. A principal component analysis identified two major evaluative components, labeled Hedonic Tone and Eventfulness. Furthermore it was found that the mere presence of common sound sources, regardless of sound level, correlated significantly with these evaluative components. Technological sounds (e.g., traffic noise) were negatively associated with both Hedonic Tone and Eventfulness, while a positive association was found between Hedonic Tone and sounds of nature (e.g., bird song), and a positive association was found between Eventfulness and human sounds (e.g., human voices). These relationships lead to the hypothesis that introduction of nature and human sounds, in combination with the reduction of technological sounds may improve the quality of soundscapes considerably.
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| 8. |
- Axelsson, Östen, et al.
(författare)
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Validation of the Swedish soundscape-quality protocol
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - New York : Acoustical Society of America (ASA). - 0001-4966. ; 131:4, s. 3474-
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Swedish Soundscape-Quality Protocol was developed to help non-experts (e.g., officials working for municipalities rather than soundscaperesearchers) to make informed, accurate measurements of soundscape quality. The Protocol has hitherto been used in England, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and The Netherlands; a Korean version is being developed. Based on field studies – soundwalks in urban residential areas, recreational areas, and parks – the present paper reports on the psychometric properties of the scales of the Protocol. Participants were residents, or visitors to the areas and their results support the reliability and validity of the scales in the Protocol. Because high acoustic quality has a greater effect in visually attractive than in visually poor areas, the Swedish Soundscape-Quality Protocol includes scales for cross-sensory tabulation. These are sound source identification – sounds from humans, nature and technology – attribute scales (e.g., eventful, exciting, pleasant, and calm), overall soundscape quality, and concomitant visual impressions. In brief, the Swedish Soundscape-Quality Protocol is an easy to use and practical tool for measuringsoundscape quality. It has the potential to help operationalize how soundscapes can be measured in “quiet areas” to meet a future guideline value of the World Health Organization.
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| 9. |
- Axelsson, Östen, et al.
(författare)
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Water features and acoustic diversity of urban parks
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - : Acoustical Society of America (ASA). - 0001-4966 .- 1520-8524. ; 130:4, s. 2533-2533
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Water features are well-acknowledged in architecture and urban planning for their visual characteristics. But, how do water features contribute to acoustic diversity and soundscape quality? Visitors in an urban park were recruited to complete a questionnaire on how they perceived the park including its soundscape. Meanwhile, the soundscape was manipulated by turning a fountain on or off at irregular hours. The fountain sounds had a positive effect on soundscape quality in an area close to the fountain, by masking background road-traffic noise. The fountain sound also masked other natural sounds, which may have a negative influence on acoustic diversity and soundscape quality. In addition, some participants may have mistaken the fountain sounds for distant road-traffic noise. Hence, when introducing a water feature in an urban park it is necessary to consider the acoustic characteristics of the water sounds, as well as the placement of the water feature.
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| 10. |
- Berglund, Birgitta, et al.
(författare)
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A dualistic psychoacoustic research strategy for measuring soundscape quality : Paper 034.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Inter-Noise 2006–Engineering a Quieter World..
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In order to be able to design future soundscapes, tools are needed by which soundscape quality can be measured. For this purpose a “dualistic psychoacoustic research strategy” has been developed. The main goal of this strategy is to identify new ways to characterize soundscapes acoustically. The core question is how soundscapes should be measured on the one hand acoustically, on the other perceptually, such that the acoustic soundscapes that are similar (or dissimilar) would be identical to the perceived soundscapes that are similar (or dissimilar). A top down approach is favored in which tools for measuring perceived soundscape quality are first developed, and followed by developing models of measurement for acoustic soundscapes. Our multidimensional tool for measuring perceived soundscapes includes (perceived) similarity analysis for finding basic underlying dimensions and corresponding similarity analysis of acoustic (waterfall) soundscape quality. This means that this tool measures soundscape quality beyond loudness of unwanted sounds or mere sound level of predominant noise. Research on neural network models is in progress for finding appropriate acoustic measures of soundscapes.
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