PSY 101: Analysis of Emotion's Impact on Loudness Perception - 2018

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the influence of emotions on loudness perception, drawing from a study involving 34 participants with normal hearing. It explores the relevance of context, assumptions made by researchers, and the implications of the findings, particularly in mental health and education. The essay also includes a reflection on diversity and global learning, examining the role of culture and emotional control, especially within the military sector. The study reveals that negative emotions can significantly impact the perception of loudness, with emotionally charged stimuli proving more audible. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence and cultural awareness in various aspects of life.

Running head: Analysis Essay 1
PSY 101
Template for GT Department-Wide Assignment
Spring 2018
(40 points)
Name:
S#:
Date:
Part 1 – Article Analysis
Part 1 - Section 1 (Explain an Issue)
The researchers of this study were interested in understanding the influence of emotions
on the perception of Loudness. Loudness perception being an important modular system is not
affected in any way by brain systems. It was meant to examine whether negative emotion had it
could in any way influence the basic sensory dimension. It was to explore the possibility that
emotional processing could regulate low-level perceptions (Asutay & Västfjäll, 2012). The
study incorporated 34 individuals with normal hearing (females had a mean age of 26.7). The
research participants were enquired about their hearing abilities. All the research participants
gave their informed consent before being included in the activities and were appropriately
compensated after the study. In accordance to research ethical guidelines, the study experiments

Analysis Essay 2
were done according to the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki, and Vastra Gotaland regional ethics
committee approved its activities. 1/3 octave band wide noise which had Centre frequencies 250
Hz, 500Hz, 1 kHz and 2 kHz served as auditory stimuli and the loudness was maintained at 5.5
sones [21]. The sounds were produced by the use of loudspeakers which were placed at a 1.2m
height and 2m distance from the research correspondents. The elevation of the loudspeakers was
at 60 degrees. In the actual activity, the participants sat on a chair and a vibration was applied
over a powerful shaker attached to the seat rest. The amplitude and the stimulus (tactile
stimulation) were applied at the same level. The overall experiment was carried out in different
lighting conditions and sound attenuated rooms. Several repetitions of the experiments were
done on the participants. The data was later collected and analyzed using the SPSS statistical
software in terms of the sum of squares.
Part 1 - Section 2 (Relevance of Context)
A lot of research has been done on this topic of psychology. Emotional influences are a
key aspect of consideration for much psychological research. This is why the researchers in this
study were influenced by the professional gap that existed regarding the knowledge needed in
this field of psychology. The existing knowledge already shows a significant positive input of
this research into the field of psychology (Heidig, Müller & Reichelt, 2015). The study of the
influence of emotions has been directed to different aspects such as learning memory, academic
memory, and brain activity, decision making and empirical connection of emotion and music.
(Tyng et. al, 2017) & (Thompson & Quinto, 2011). Many researchers have found out that
emotions have a significant impact on various aspects that regard everyday life. This is why the
study on the perception of loudness as being influenced by emotions has also brought a lot of
insights into many areas where this phenomenon is common. These include clubs, music

Analysis Essay 3
concerts, recreational facilities using music systems and many more. The main goal has been to
breach the gap that exists between many common environments and people’s emotional
responses to them. The research took place was at the University of California. There is a
significant impact that was felt by the context of the research. It was hence considered valid and
relevant to the researchers and the whole team.
Part 1 - Section 3 (Identify Assumptions)
It is important to note that there could have been many factors that led to the research of
the influence of emotions. The researchers found out that there was notable both groups of
individuals experienced higher EDA when they heard the CS+ compared to CS-. This proves the
validity of the hypothesis that tactile stimulation aroused emotionally on its own and that there
was a success in altering the emotion associated with auditory stimuli. Most people exhibit wild
emotional responses to certain aspects of the society (Ruvalcaba-Romero, et.al, 2017). There are
different environments in which emotional influence can be high. These environments include
unstable emotional state, critical thinking and other inactive states of the human brain such as
sleep, lucid dreaming, and hallucinations. The hypothesis that the research carried out was
testing is the influence of perception by emotions. It was assumed that the rate of voice
transmission was constant in all the participants so that their impact depends on their hearing
capabilities. The level of noise made was also assumed to be of the same range and intensity so
that it was tested according to the tools that were used. Since the environment did not have
specific common factors, it was assumed that most of the factors that would affect sound
transmission and emotional control and influence. The assumptions that were made concerning
the research participants was that they would find it uncomfortable to consistently listen to
loudness. The undertakers of this research also assumed that there were many ways in which

Analysis Essay 4
research would profit the academic fields. They also assumed that the available knowledge was
enough to give foundational guidelines and directions on emotional influence. It was also
assumed that giving the research participants consent of what they would be involved in and
compensating they would be an added advantage to the research study. In such an extensive and
complex experiment, the main assumption is that all unknown factors in the experiments do not
have negligible effects on the overall results of the research. In the use of emotional influence as
an important factor in this research, it is was assumed that all the research participants and had a
positive response to emotional reactions due to any of the experiment activities they were
involved in during the research. The assumptions made during the analysis of data by the use of
ANOVA is that all the measurements were true and that all degrees of freedom existed within the
boundaries of statistical principles of data analysis
Part 1 - Section 4 (Understand Implications and Make Conclusions)
The results of this study have acknowledged the hypothesis that Perception of loudness
influenced by emotion. The participants in the research were divided into two groups. Although
the induced effects were done on both groups, there was a differing reception on both sides. This
shows that the induced effects that contained emotional stimuli were more audible and perceived
compared to the ones that did not have an emotional stimulus. During the study, it was further
proved that apart from the perception of loudness being influenced by emotion, it was also
proved that perception of loudness was influenced by the type of emotion and the meaning it
had. The study was mainly focused on investigating whether a negative emotion could influence
judgments related to the loudness of sounds. An auditory stimulus paired with an aversive
experience was used as a variable. Meaningless auditory stimuli were also used. The predictions
were to have conditioning changing the emotional reactions to sounds. The emotionally arousing

Analysis Essay 5
conditioning stimuli proved the influence of emotion on perception. After analysis, there was
found a correlation between loudness judgments with EDA responses. In mental health, these
findings could be used in the therapeutic treatment of mental cases through the manipulation of
their emotions. In American schools, this knowledge could be used in psychology to understand
the different emotional states of students and the influence on their lives.
Part 2 – Reflection on Diversity and Global Learning
Part 2 - Section 1 (Build Self-Awareness)
The topics of emotional response to me are very important of interest because it relates to the
important aspects of psychology that define personality and emotional intelligence. This topic is
universally effective for every individual because it relates to everyday life. For instance, if
emotions can influence the perception of any environmental entity, then they can influence
personal life. It is also closely related to emotional intelligence (Stein & Book, 2011). There are
diverse approaches related to emotional response to activities, people, environment, values, and
society at large. In classroom and learning activities, the emotional response is an important
aspect because it helps one learn how to become socially accepted. I believe that emotional
response is an important part of being human and it is embedded in human psychology (Arnold
& Boggs, 2015). I like being emotionally intelligent because it helps in dealing with people
understanding their emotions and relating them to myself. This helps me to be real in regard to
connecting the world me. There is a need to be accommodating when interacting with different
people especially in a learning environment where there are different types of people. Many
professionals in the field of human psychology have given hypothesis in regard to the influence
of emotions as well as emotional response (Lerner, Valdesolo & Kassam, 2015). Females are

Analysis Essay 6
considered to be more emotionally intelligent than men. However, despite one’s gender,
emotional intelligence is always possible to improve on. The average emotionally intelligence
person is 90-100, with the excellent one at 160. I consider emotional intelligence a very
important aspect of social relationships. Hence, I’m in the same category as the gender that
always performs exceptionally in emotional intelligence, response, and control (Arnold & Boggs,
2015).
Part 2 - Section 2 (Examine Perspectives)
I will examine the aspects of culture and emotional control. My efforts will be geared
towards finding the different cultures that exist and how they deal with emotional control. I have
traveled to different countries and this has given me the privilege to learn about different cultures
and a number of ways that people express their emotions (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2017). Personal
experience has given me the opportunity to learn the essence of emotional control especially
after interacting with people who were wild in their emotional reaction. It is important to note
that response differs from reaction (Levi, Dezalay & Amiraslani, 2017). In response, the action is
governed by awareness of self and regulation of the environment, in reaction, there lacks a
conscious decision in regard to the action. In the United States, many people appear to be
emotional intelligence especially the in the cities. People display a sense of empathy and
consideration of other people’s emotional intelligence (Parrott, 2016). Emotional control is
significantly good in most people in the United States. However, people in the Middle East
generally have a wild attitude and emotionally eruption. The American culture and the Arab
culture have a wide gap. Emotional control, intelligence, and emotional response are areas of
concern in the two cultures. The cultural gap is the reason for those two wide perspectives
regarding emotions. Exposure to different environments and settings have a way of defining

Analysis Essay 7
people’s view and perspectives regarding different things (Lerner, Valdesolo & Kassam, 2015).
Cultures are as a result of continuous lifestyles that eventually define the essence of life in
people. This virtue of essence of life becomes a point of defining all the other aspects that exist
in people’s personalities. This is why interacting with a native cultural setting in America will be
very distinguishable from an Arab culture. The same applies to perspectives that define
emotional reaction and control as well as the definition
Part 2 - Section 3 (Address Diversity)
I would like to address the issues that are related to culture and emotional response and
how these affect the military sector. I retrieved this information from the articles address the
issues of military culture and warfare. These are a very fundamental area of study. Military
culture is a lifestyle that has faced different challenges related to emotional intelligence breaches
and emotional response and control (Robinson, 2017). The military of any nation is tasked with
the noble task of vigilance and high level of stress and pressure in relation to their area of work.
Military personnel has a culture in which admission of weakness is far from the world of the
military. The subject of emotional intelligence is very important and relates well to the military.
The military has a cultural setting that is very outright and well ordered. Many religious groups
are organized in structures of leadership (Horgan, 2008). They hold different beliefs and
principles that define the important aspects of life. Power has a direct influence on any military
organization. Religious groups also use power as a weapon to propagate any mandate that they
hold. In the military, power defines the capacity to command many people and the ability to
influence people’s lives through authority. Religious groups are influenced by the strength of the
power they have. Individuals in both groups become self-aware and strongly based on the
principles that define them. When people are empowered by the authority that makes an impact

Analysis Essay 8
in their lives, they become established in their worldview and embrace it as a culture that
survives all pressure and influence.

Analysis Essay 9
References
Arnold, E. C., & Boggs, K. U. (2015). Interpersonal Relationships-E-Book: Professional
Communication Skills for Nurses. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Asutay, E., & Västfjäll, D. (2012). Perception of loudness is influenced by emotion. PloS
one, 7(6), e38660.
Heidig, S., Müller, J., & Reichelt, M. (2015). Emotional design in multimedia learning:
Differentiation on relevant design features and their effects on emotions and
learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 81-95.
Horgan, J. (2008). From profiles to pathways and roots to routes: Perspectives from psychology
on radicalization into terrorism. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political
and Social Science, 618(1), 80-94.
Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P., & Kassam, K. S. (2015). Emotion and decision
making. Annual review of psychology, 66.
Levi, R., Dezalay, S., & Amiraslani, M. (2017). Prosecutorial strategies and opening
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Parrott, W. G. (2016). Psychological Perspectives on Emotion in Groups. In Passions, Sympathy
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(2015). A brief introduction to the military workplace culture. Work, 50(1), 9-20.

Analysis Essay 10
Ritzer, G., & Stepnisky, J. (2017). Contemporary sociological theory and its classical roots: The
basics. SAGE Publications.
Robinson, L. (2017). Experiences of military culture and identity (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Warwick).
Ruvalcaba-Romero, N. A., Fernández-Berrocal, P., Salazar-Estrada, J. G., & Gallegos-Guajardo,
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Stein, S. J., & Book, H. E. (2011). The EQ Edge: Emotional intelligence and your success. John
Wiley & Sons.
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aesthetic mind: Philosophy and psychology, 357-375.
Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. N., & Malik, A. S. (2017). The influences of emotion on
learning and memory. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1454.