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Subscribe to RSSScreeeeeeeech. Even imagining the sound of a person's fingernails scraping down a chalkboard is horrible. Now, new research helps suggest why the noise is such a special kind of awful.
The frequency of the screechy, scratchy sound ranges between 2000 Hz and 4000 -- and to your ear canal, this is the zone of terror, where the human ear is most sensitive. "Some frequencies are amplified due to the anatomy of the ear canal," write musicologists Christoph Reuter, of the University of Vienna, and Michael Oehler, of the Macromedia University for Media and Communication in Cologne, Germany. In other words: Blame the shape of your ear.
In Reuter's and Oehler's study, they played two unpleasant sounds -- fingernails on a chalkboard and squeaking chalk on a slate -- but before doing so, they told half of their participants that they'd be hearing contemporary music. The other half knew the horror that was coming. Both groups reacted physically to the sounds, which induced a galvanic skin response -- a change in the skin's electrical activity that is often triggered by fright and can be measured, like a polygraph test. Those who thought they were listening to contemporary music judged the sound as slightly less unpleasant -- but they still didn't like it, suggesting psychology plays a role in what makes the noise so noxious.
Reuter and Oehler presented their finding this week at the Acoustical Society of America meeting.
Feeling uncomfortable after all this fingernails-on-chalkboard talk? Researchers actually proved in a 1986 study just thinking about nails-on-a-chalkboard can evoke the same psychological reaction as actually hearing the horrible sound.
Can you think of a sound that's worse than fingernails on a chalkboard? (Silverware scraping on plates? Styrofoam rubbing together?)
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Give me chalk screeching any day over teenagers talking loudly using profanity, gang language, and poor grammar, all the while being disrespectful to adults and figures of authority.
You sound so old. I pity you for that.
You sound so immature, rude and low-rent. Maybe one day you'll grow up and want to act like an adult.
The only thing worse than fingernails on a black board is the gutteral sounds of the new "Metal Bands" that sound like lucifer; people screaming in anguish amid the low, growling sounds of some man or several men. It's the worst I've ever heard.
Actually, Gerard, I'm not old. I'm a teacher. I can handle chalk screeching. Do it myself sometimes. Kids telling me they're going to "snap on me some day," and "someone gonna get shot" in my classroom, or telling *me* to shut up and sit down just because I politely asked them to pay attention, is what causes my skin to crawl.
I'D have to agree with Wan-3235979 1000%, threats of violence and gun shots are way wrong!!!!
Gum chewing and snapping
That explanation seems a bit simplistic to me... you can take a tone generator and create the whole range of tones between 2Khz and 4Khz and you don't get even close to the same reaction. I think there's more to it.
Very good point.
Quint from "Jaws":
(drags his nails down a chalkboard to quiet the room) "Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's just too many captains on this island. $10,000 for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing."
Seems simplistic to me as well. When I hear that sound, or even think about it, I imagine the damage being done to the fingernails as they scrape down the board, the chalk dust getting under the nails, the splintering of the edges.
Oddly, I don't get that reaction when I think about someone getting shot or stabbed, even though the damage is far worse.
Perhaps because a generated tone is steady and constant, while fingers on a chalkboard have an inherent staccato quality?
Ugh the only thing I can think worse than fingernails down a chalkboard is the sound of a sandstone block on a flattop metal grill to clean it. *shudders* Anyone who has ever worked in a diner knows what I mean. It's nauseating.
Babies crying and screaming physically hurt my ears! It's like someone's driving an ice pick in them. Another sound that's just as bad is someone chewing on ice. I cringe just thinking about it.
Nickelback?
Crying babies and squeaking teeth. (My own, I dunno if I can hear other people's teeth.)
Styrofoam rubbing is together is even worse than the chalkboard!!
Those noises have never bothered me.
The worst sound would be someone farting in an elevator. because the sound means something much worse is on the way.
The absolute worst sound is:
CHILDREN SCREAMING DURING PLAY.
My kids were forbidden to scream unless there was a fire or abduction attempt. They are now very respectful and courteous--not the loud obnoxious-types at parties.
Parents who let their kids scream are spineless and inconsiderate of neighbors. I repeat: My kids had all the playthings any kids could ever have and enjoyed lots of hours in the sun playing, and they had plenty of fun, WITHOUT having to $#$@ scream like savages.
They are now older and very well-mannered !!
Microphone feedback
Saliva-drenched kissing on TV
Any song by the Stones
Airrika, I beg your pardon..."The Stones"? They made the best rock n roll ever!!!!
Metal scraping on sand. Gives me chills!
I love kids, but the sound of screaming is no good for me. I have an Autism-spectrum disorder, though, and I'm hyper-sensitive to all kinds of sounds, and also sensations. The act of pulling a cotton-ball out of a medication bottle has the same effect on me as nails on a chalkboard, my mouth waters and I cringe and have chills and goosebumps and icky tingles up and down my body. I hate it.
The sound of old guy slobber.
The crowd outside of the Today Show when they start yelling at 7:30 A.M.
I can barely handle taking ice out of the freezer. The sound of the ice rubbing the ice is as bad for me as nails on a chalkboard. Also, they have these lipglosses with glittery handles. The glitter attached to the glue on the handles makes the most terrible sound when it's touched. My family has chased me around the house scraping their nails along the top *shudder*.
I have to leave the house when my husband uses a callous scraper on his heels. Gad, I can barely even type that sentence without shuddering. Makes me want to throw up!
And how did the researchers establish that the critical frequencies were in the 2000-4000 Hz range? A mention of their use of bandpass filtering would have clarified this. It's really annoying that this column does not publish links to the original research.
At least they mentioned the author's names so that it is possible to find the journal article. That is more than MSNBC usually does for its scientific reporting.
I hate the noise of squeecky peanuts when you chew them... I also hate the raspberry noise someone makes when they stick their tongue out at some1... it gives me a headache ><
What about chewing aluminum foil?
Never mind the sound, that gives me a toothache just thinking about it!
Although it's more tactile than audile, I have a similar reaction to wooden popsicle sticks scraping against teeth.
And the age old question is. (as my father used to say)
"If this sound makes your skin crawl, how does your butt smell when it passes your nose"?
Screaming bratty kids cryin and shrieking is about as annoying as it can get , especially first thing in the morning when you want to go get a breaky sandwich and a coffee and read the paper in peace .
Don't get me started on that loud, high pitched squeal toddlers do that seems to carry for miles. The worst is when you're in public shopping or waiting for an appointment and someone's little angel has learned to squeal in that high pitch. And the little brat has learned when they squeal they get attention. Usually the parent does nothing to stop them or worse tells them how cute that is and encourages them to continue. Once it got so bad that I loudly told a receptionist that it was too loud in the waiting room and I asked to postpone my appointment till a quieter day. I got a dirty look from the mother but at least she took her screaming brat outside.