DOI: 10.1121/10.0020608 ISSN:
Cultural differences in auditory ecology
Carlos R. Benítez-Barrera, Nairán Ramirez-Esparza, Adrián García-Sierra, Erika Skoe- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Demographic differences in acoustic environments are usually studied using geographic area monitoring. This approach, however, may miss valuable information differentiating cultures. This motivated the current study, which used wearable sound recorders to measure noise levels and speech-to-noise ratios (SNRs) in the immediate acoustic environment of Latinx and European-American college students. Latinx experienced higher noise levels (64.8 dBC) and lower SNRs (3.7 dB) compared to European-Americans (noise levels, 63 dB; SNRs, 5.4 dB). This work provides a framework for a larger study on the impact of culture on auditory ecology.