Ear Plug Experiment- Ramya Shyam

I decided that Saturday afternoon was the best time to begin the experiment

because I would be attending a concert later that night. I put them in at

around 2:00, and did my usual saturday afternoon routine. I live in a suite

with seven other people who are usually fairly quiet, and it is a rare occasion

when they are all in the suite simultaneously. I usually listen to music while

studying to prevent myself from falling asleep. Earplugs, of course, are not

completely soundproof, and I could still hear the music faintly. Most sounds

can be heard with slight noticeable change if a small object is placed between

the source of a sound and your ears. This is because sound has the ability to

travel around and sometimes through solid objects. I found that it was actually

a good volume for the music because I could still hear it and it kept me awake,

but it was not so loud that it was distracting.

I chose not to make phone calls, but I did receive them throughout the day.

Over the phone, sometimes voices were not recognizable because of disturbances

on the cordless phone, combined with the softness of the voice. However, the

voice didn't change because the signature of frequencies composing the voice

remained the same. The voice only changed in volume. Whatever I heard sounded

very much like how voices sound when you are on a plane and your ears have a

clogged feeling.

After reading chapter ten, I decided that it would be best to wear the

earplugs to the concert for my own benefit. This was especially important

because of the proximity between the speaker and myself. Usually, after a

concert, I experience ringing in my ears, a sound that I suppose resembles

the sound that people with tinnitus hear. I also noticed that when the earplugs

were in, I could feel the bass pounding in my ears more than I could hear it.

The bass was also more prominent than the melody. I also did not experience the

normal threshold shift that I experience after leaving a concert.

Throughout the day, I experienced interaural time difference because one

earplug was not in as deep as the other. This is probably because the sound

waves took longer to enter one ear than the other.

This hearing loss seemed most similar to conduction loss because it was as if

there was an excess buildup of earwax in the canal of the outer ear. I did

experience a threshold shift once I removed the earplugs.

This experiment was frustrating at times, for example when I had to speak

with friends and ask them to repeat what they said. However, it was also a gift

when it served as protection for my eardrum during the concert. Hearing is

definitely important for one's safety, and for aesthetic purposes, just like any

other sense.