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When you hear Gunshots fired, what is your immediate reaction? Do you try to figure out where they came from? Do you immediately run regardless of direction? Is it the sound of the gun being fired that prompts the danger or response? or is it the knowledge of being taught that guns are dangerous that prompts the response? 

Take some time to think about it. When you hear a police siren for example. Do you instantly react in fear of what's going on? What is your immediate response? When you hear an Ambulance do you immediately have concerns of figuring out what's going on? Are these natural responses? or are they taught/learned? 

Here is a small breakdown of a piece from an article published by Johns Hopkins University regarding auditory responses to sounds. What I would like for you to keep in mind here is that even though we do have learned responses to certain sounds, the environments in which the sounds take place may also change the way we react or respond to them. Also, we have to consider whether its the sound itself for example a gunshot being fired that triggers said response, or whether its the nature of the sound (for example how loud the shots are) that trigger the response.

I felt like Classical conditioning was something that was very relevant when discussing learned reactions to sounds vs innate reactions to sounds. Here is a short breakdown of why this matters on this topic of conversation and how it relates. 

The sense of hearing exists to keep us safe.1,2 Everyone jumps or gets startled when there is a sudden, unexpected loud sound nearby. In contrast, most people find the song of birds peaceful and comforting as it represents no immediate threats in our environment. Researchers have not yet been able to determine what level of sound intensity and frequency begins to incite fear, but they do know that the intensity of our emotional and physical response depends on how familiar our brains are with a sound and in determining where the sound might be coming from (“is that rattling coming from my car’s engine or is that just coins in my cupholder?”).3 Since the beginning of humanity, emotional and physical reactions to sounds have saved countless lives by instantly turning on our natural fight or flight reaction. Even when we are in our deepest cycle of sleep, listening neurons in our brains are constantly “on” and are scanning our surroundings for sounds of danger to wake us, such as when a fire or security alarm sounds. (Sounds and Emotion: How our brains react to Everyday noise by Lindsay Robinson)

At a scientific level, sound and noise are technically the same - they are vibrations in the air (or in water) that we pick up with our ears. The bigger the waves are (their amplitude), the stronger the vibrations are, and the louder the sound is. However, sound is something that we hear in general. Noise is something that we can hear, but don’t necessarily want to hear. (Sound Vs Noise by Lets Talk Science)

I took some time out to interview a friend to ask some questions about different sound reactions in different scenarios. the interview was conducted in my community discord and with me being disabled, this was an excellent resource for me . I was also able to use my OBS to record the interview itself which was extremely helpful. Take a listen.  This is a prime example of how different environments can invoke different reactions. Its also a prime example of how natural reactions of fear work directly in conjuntion to learned responses and reactions to sound!  Enjoy.

Let's take a minute to piece the 3 aspects mentioned and tie them all together. Weve asked about natural versus learned sound responses. Weve talked about Classical conditioning. And lastly, we have talked about noise vs sound. Here I give a short breakdown tying it all together in how I believe these three elements all play a role in shaping our sound responses. 

I will close out my findings by stating that it is my personal belief that you cannot have one aspect of sound reaction without the other. While I do believe that there are innate reactions and responses to sound, i also believe that sounds themselves are learned EVEN IF the reactions to those sounds were not taught SOCIALLY. Experience is the best teacher as they say. take some time to review the Links in my bibliography and tell me what you think on the matter. I hope this wasn't too long winded and that you enjoy this as much as I did.

Links and citations for this work


Johns Hopkins University -https://www.bme.jhu.edu/news-events/news/new-study-reveals-how-brain-changes-when-you-learn-a-sound/
VERY WELL MIND https://www.verywellmind.com/classical-conditioning-2794859
BETTERHEARING.ORG - https://www.verywellmind.com/classical-conditioning-2794859
Lets Talk Science! - https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-explained/sound-vs-noise

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