UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD NEWS RELEASE
Embargoed until 00:01 30th October 2009
Science reveals the secret of a perfect Halloween scream
A University of Salford experiment involving 3,000 people has revealed the ingredients of the scariest Halloween scream – it’s best if you’re a woman and you have to really mean it.
As part of Manchester Science Festival, Professor Trevor Cox invited people to listen to and rate a random selection of Screams on this website in terms of scariness.
After 20,000 ratings, the acoustics researcher is now able to reveal that female screams were ranked as scariest, with the longest and highest pitch screams (and therefore most heartfelt) also the most blood curdling.
Professor Cox explained: “It’s all about the screamer sounding
really distressed. Ask the average person on the street to scream and they tend
to be a bit inhibited and the sound isn’t very scary. When they really
go for it, push lots of air very fast out of their lungs, you get a high pitched,
rough sound as the vocal chords struggle to cope, and it’s really unpleasant
to listen to; a similar effect is heard at the climax of chimpanzee hoots”
The scariest scream
19 screams were used in the experiment, with each visitor played six. There was no difference in the voting patterns of men and women and very little over different age groups, suggesting to Trevor that the reaction to a long, rough high pitched scream is common to all people.
Professor Cox explained: “Women’s screams are usually a higher pitch than men’s and so are closer to the frequencies where peoples’ ears are most sensitive – about 3000Hz. There are a few possible explanations as to why this type of scream is more frightening,” he said. “Women and their children have historically been protected by men in social groups. Maybe female screams draw a stronger reaction because of the need to protect the vulnerable. The acoustic fingerprint of a scream is very similar to a baby’s cry.”
The Screams experiment is part of the 2009 Manchester Science Festival which runs from 24 October - 1 November. The programme includes over 150 exciting science, technology, engineering and maths events for families and adults in venues across Greater Manchester.
Manchester Science Festival brings together universities, organisations and key cultural partners from across the region. The Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) is the lead partner for the Manchester Science Festival, which is supported by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Siemens.
For more information about Manchester Science Festival please visit: www.manchestersciencefestival.com
Ends
Notes to Editors
Where did we get the screams?
We recorded some ourselves, some came from sound effects and some from the band Kid British
Were Kid British good at screaming?
There screams were amongst the least scary (15th and 17th out of 19). Maybe we should have asked a heavy metal band to scream!
Why do we scream?
It is a distress call we use from birth to signal discomfort and danger.
How you scream
When you talk, you push air out of your lungs and your vocal folds (chords) open and close 100-200 times a second (about 100 for males, 200 for females). This generates a buzzing sound which is then enhanced by the resonances of the throat, mouth and nasal passages to produce your voice. Say ‘aaah’ gently and you get a nice vowel sound.
Screaming is a similar sound to ‘aaah’ but the vocal folds now open and close much quicker, 300-1700 times a second in the screams we used, producing a high pitched sound (300-1400 Hz for males, 700-1700 for females).
Some scream facts
Loudest scream by a crowd
A scream by a group of Scouts (all Finland) was measured to reach a level of 127.2 dBA, in the grounds of Toivala's Metsakoulu, Siilinjarvi, Finland on 16 April 2005.
Loudest scream
129 decibels set by a classroom assistant Jill Drake in the Millennium Dome in 2000
Most heard scream
The Wilhelm Scream has been used repeatedly in Star Wars and other blockbuster films after it became an in-joke among sound effect artists. It has been used in nearly 150 films (http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html)
Why do we like being scared - why do we enjoy roller coasters and horror movies
Our brain enjoys tension and release - so we enjoy being scared and then it working out alright in the end.
Trevor Cox
Trevor is Professor of Acoustic Engineering at the University of Salford. He is a Senior Media Fellow funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and has presented a number of science documentaries on BBC radio 4 and World Service. He is President-Elect of the Institute of Acoustics (IoA), the professional institute for Acoustics in the UK. Trevor is resident scientist on BBC Radio Manchester.
Science back story: Laboratory verses web
The scientific back story is that the web vote is being used to understand better the accuracy of carrying out sound experiments on the web. A laboratory experiment has also been carried out to test the scariness of 10 of the sounds used in the web experiment.
For further information or photographs contact:
Jamie Brown / Karen Reeves
Press and PR Office
T +44 (0)161 295 5361 / 5370
j.brown@salford.ac.uk / k.j.reeves@salford.ac.uk
Trevor Cox
T +44 (0)7986 557 419
Sound files
here (Web page gives broadcast rights information for sounds)
