Frescura, Alessia 
ORCID: 0000-0003-3097-0369
(2022)
Psychological and physiological responses to sounds from neighbours in wood residential buildings.
PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.
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Abstract
Sound from neighbours is a key locus of contestation in densifying cities, where the construction of high-rise lightweight buildings is promoted as more sustainable for the environment. Neighbours’ sounds invade private spaces and impair their restorative potential, sometimes reducing dramatically the quality of life in homes. However, there have been little investigations on responses to neighbours sounds compared to environmental sound sources such as traffic, or occupational sounds in workplaces. This thesis work gathers five laboratory-based experiments, aiming at understanding the psychological, affective, and physiological responses to sounds from neighbours in wood residential buildings. The main objective was to deepen the understanding of how impact footsteps sound affects residents. Additionally, airborne sounds such as speech and music were investigated as a part of the dissertation. There were four main questions at the basis of the whole research. Firstly, the correlations between standardised and real sound sources impacting wood floor structures were investigated, clarifying the role of the type of sound source in the existing mismatch between subjective and objective evaluation of lightweight floors. Secondly, the focus shifted towards the responses to the combination of impact and airborne sounds. Significant differences in annoyance responses were observed for sounds heard singularly or in combination, highlighting the need for a holistic building acoustic regulations which keep into account the simultaneous presence of several neighbours sound sources at once, as a usual condition in residential settings. Eventually, third and fourth questions looked at how humans respond to sounds from neighbours psychologically, emotionally, and physiologically, and at which acoustic and non-acoustic factors affect the responses. The affective dimensions of arousal and valence aligned along the defensive motivation circuit, which mediates the reaction to threat. Significant changes from baseline were observed in all the peripheral physiological parameters and in the EEG Alpha waves, during exposure to neighbours sounds through lightweight wood floor structures and partition walls. According to the findings, spatial characteristics, sound pressure levels, type of sound source, the pace of upstairs footsteps, and time of the day significantly influenced perceived annoyance. Additionally, responses to neighbours’ sounds were found to be significantly different across participants with different sensitivity to noise, different attitudes towards their neighbours, and dissimilar circadian rhythm types.
| Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | acoustics sustainability, Alpha waves, annoyance, attitude towards the sound source, building acoustics, circadian rhythm, emotions, footsteps sounds, IACC, noise sensitivity, non-acoustic factors, pace of the walker, physiology, residential spaces, sounds from neighbours, spatial characteristics, wood multi-storey buildings |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of the Arts |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Dec 2022 15:19 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jan 2024 17:21 |
| DOI: | 10.17638/03165973 |
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| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3165973 |
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