Identifying the States of Matter Involved in an Acoustic Event

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the real world, we use sound to detect events occurring in our vicinity. Often, an acoustic event is created by one entity (the active entity) acting on another entity (the passive entity). The active and passive entities may possess the same state or different states of matter. The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which individuals can accurately identify the states of matter of the two interacting entities and accurately identify the state of matter of the active and passive entities. The results revealed participants were highly accurate at determining the states of matter involved in a particular acoustic event, but only moderately accurate at determining the state of matter of the active and passive entity. Accuracy was greater when the entities involved the same rather than different states of matter, highest when an event involved at least one solid, and lowest when it involved a gas. Unlike accuracy, participant confidence was less affected by event variations. The findings suggest individuals are largely capable of determining the states of matter involved in an acoustic event. The findings are discussed with the idea of using what is heard to visually identify the entities involved in an event.