Cross-cultural study of emotional component of perceived quality of acoustical events

In the article, the results of empirical study of peculiarities of acoustical events’ perception by representatives of three cultural groups from Tuva, Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Moscow are presented. The aim of the study based on the perceived quality paradigm was to contribute to creation of the library of emotionally charged acoustical events. The results of an analysis of verbalizations produced by participants when perceiving acoustical events are given. A set of criterions are proposed to identify an emotionally charged acoustical event. The criterions were used to identify from a set of 23 sounds those 7 ones that were unambiguously attributed by all the three groups of listeners to the concrete emotions. Perspectives of further research and conditions of selecting the ecologically valid sounds for the library are outlined. Elaboration of the method and criteria for identification of emotional components of acoustical events’ perceived quality was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 15-06-05499 “Perceived quality of acoustical environment in the course of technological changes”, under the direction of V. N. Nosulenko). Empirical data was gathered in the framework of the President grant MK-7002.2015.6 “Ethno-psychological peculiarities of perception of emotionally charged acoustical events” (under the direction of N.A. Vyskochil).

1. Bradley M.M., Lang P.J. International affective digitized sounds (IADS): Stimuli, instruction  manual and affective ratings (Tech. Rep. No. B-2). Gainesville, FL: The Center for Research in Psychophysiology, University of Florida. 1999.
2. Bradley M.M., Lang P.J. Measuring emotion: The Self-Assessment Manikin and the semantic differential. J. of Behavior Therapy & Experimental Psychiatry, 1994, vol. 25, pp. 49–59. DOI:10.1016/0005- 7916(94)90063-9
3. Izard K.E. Psikhologiya emotcij [Psychology of emotions]. Sankt-Petersburg, Piter Publ., 1999 (In Russ.).
4. Kolbeneva M.G., Alexandrov Yu.I. Organy tchuvstv, emotsii I prilagatel’nye russkogo yazyka. Lingvo- psikhologitcheskij slovar’ [Sensory organs, emotions and adjectives of the russian language. A linguo- psychological dictionary]. Moscow, Yazyki slavyanskikh kul’tur Publ., 2010. 368 p. (In Russ.).
5. Nosulenko V., Parizet E., Samoylenko E. La méthode d’analyse des verbalisations libres: une application à la caractérisation des bruits de véhicules. Social Science Information, 1998, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 593–611. DOI: 10.1177/053901898037004002
6. Nosulenko V., Parizet E., Samoylenko E. The emotional component in perceived quality of noises produced by car engines. Intern. J. Vehicle Noise and Vibration, 2013, vol. 9, no. 1/2, pp. 96–108.
7. Nosulenko V., Samoylenko E. Approche systémique de l’analyse des verbalisations dans le cadre de l’étude des processus perceptifs et cognitifs.. Social Science Information, 1997, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 223–261. DOI: 10.1177/053901897036002002
8. Nosulenko V.N. Psykhophysika vospriyatiya estestvennoj sredy [Psychophysics of perception of natural environment]. Moscow, Institut psihologii RAN Publ., 2007. 400 p. (In Russ.).
9. Nosulenko V.N. Psykhologiya slukhovogo vospriyatiya [Psychology of auditory perception]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1988. 216 p. (In Russ.).
10. Nosulenko V.N., Samoylenko E.S. Induktivnyj analiz v ramkakh pertceptivno-kommunikativnogo podkhoda [Inductive analysis within the perceptive-communicative approach]. In Karpov A.V. (ed.), Aktual’nye problemy teoretitcheskoj I prikladnoj psikhologii: traditsii I perspektivy [Relevant problems of the theoretical and applied psychology: traditions and perspectives], Yaroslavl’, Yarorslavskij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet Publ., 2011, pp. 366–370 (In Russ.).
11. Nosulenko V.N., Samoylenko E.S. Poznanie i obschenie: systemnaya issledovatel’skaya paradigma [Cognition and communication: systems research paradigm]. Psykhologitcheskyi journal [Psychological journal], 2012, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 5–16 (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
12. Nosulenko V.N., Samoylenko E.S. Verbalnyj metod v izuchenii vospriyatiya izmenenij v okrujayuschej srede [Verbal method in investigation of perception of changes in environment]. In Nosulenko V.N., Epifanov E.G., Savchenko T.N. (eds.), Psykhologiya i okrujayuschaya sreda [Psychology and environment], Moscow, Institut psikhologii RAN Publ., 1995, pp. 13–59 (In Russ.).
13. Samoylenko E., McAdams S., Nosulenko V. Systematic analysis of verbalizations produced in comparing musical timbres. International Journal of Psychology, 1996, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 255–278. DOI: 10.1080/002075996401025
14. Samoylenko E.S. Problemy sravneniya v psykhologicheskom issledovanii [Problems of comparison in psychological research]. Moscow, Institut psikhologii RAN Publ., 2010. 416 p. (In Russ.).
15. Samoylenko E.S., Nosulenko V.N. Expeditsionnoe issledovanie kognitivno-kommunikativnykh protsessov u tuvintsev-todzhintcev [Expedition studies of cognitive-communicative processes in Tozhu Tuvans]. Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya [Experimental Psychology (Russia)], 2014, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 128– 138 (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
16. Stevenson R.A., James, T.W. Affective auditory stimuli characterization of the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS) by discrete emotional categories. Behavior Research Methods, 2008, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 315–321. DOI: 10.3758/BRM.40.1.315
17. Vyskochil N.A. Podbor audial’nogo stimul’nogo materiala dlya izucheniya emotsional’noj sfery cheloveka [Choice of auditory stimulus material for investigation of human emotions]. In Barabanschikov V.A. (ed.), Eksperimental’naya psykhologiya v Rossii: traditsii i perspectivy [Experimental psychology in Russia: traditions and perspectives], Moscow, Institut psihologii RAN Publ., 2010, pp. 477–482 (In Russ.).
18. Vyskochil N.A., Nosulenko V.N. Experimental’noye issledovanie emotcional’no-okrashennykh akustitcheskikh sobytij [Experimental investigation of perception of emotionally charged acoustical events]. In Barabanschikov V.A. (ed.), Estestvennonautchnyj podkhod v sovremennoj psikhologii [Natural sciences approach in contemporary psychology], Moscow, Institut psihologii RAN Publ., 2014, pp. 384–392 (In Russ.).
19. Vyskochil N.A., Nosulenko V.N. Rol’ predmetnoj identifikatsii istochnika akusticheskkogo sobytiya v formirovanii emotsional’noj sostavlyauschej ego vosprinimaemogo katchestva [Role of object identification of the source of acoustical event in formation of emotional component of its perceived quality]. Materialy Pyatoj mejdunarodnoj konferentsii po kognitivnoj nauke (Kaliningrad, 2012) [Proceedings of the Fifth international conference on cognitive science (Kaliningrad, 2012)], 2012, vol. 1, pp. 306–307 (In Russ.).
20. Vyskochil N.A., Nosulenko V.N. Sozdanie biblioteki emotcional’no okrashennykh akustitcheskikh sobytij: voprosy ekologitcheskoj validnosti The creation of a library of emotionally-charged acoustic events: ecological validity matters]. Materialy 7-j Rossijskoj konferentsii po ekologitcheskoj psikhologii [Proceedings of the 7-th Russian conference on ecological psychology], 2015, Moscow, Psihologitcheskij institut RAO Publ.; Sankt-Petersburg, Nestor-Istoria Publ., 2015, pp. 115–118.
21. Vyskochil N.A., Nosulenko V.N., Samoylenko E.S. Metod analiza verbalizatcij v zadatche empiritcheskogo vybora emotcional’no okrashennykh akustitcheskikh sobytij [Verbalisation analysis method in the empirical choice of emotionally-charged acoustic events]. In Demidov A.A. (ed.), Psikhologitcheskie I psikhoanalititcheskie issledovaniya [Psychological and Psychoanalytic Researches], Moscow, Moskivskij institut psikhoanaliza Publ., 2016, pp. 104–115 (In Russ.).
22. Vyskochil N.A., Nosulenko V.N., Starikova I.V. O nekotorykh voprosakh izucheniya emotsional’nogo otnosheniya cheloveka k akusticheskim sobytiaym [About investigation of emotional attitude of individual to acoustical events]. Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya [Experimental Psychology (Russia)], 2011, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 62–78 (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).