Science Confirms It: Whining Is The Most Annoying Sound Ever (Not the Onion)

[n2doc]

By: SONIA VAN GILDER COOKE
Finally, empirical evidence has arrived that whining is one of the most annoying noises ever. (As if you needed proof.)

In fact, childish whining is more distracting than the screech of a high-pitched table saw, according to a new study. To test people's tolerance for various sounds, scientists asked them to do math problems in silence, and then while listening to talking, “motherese” (aka baby talk), whining and machine noise. Just to make sure words weren't throwing the test-takers off, they recorded the speech in a foreign language.

The results? Whining tripped up subjects with their subtraction more than any other sound. “You're basically doing less work and doing it worse when you're listening to the whines,” said study co-author Rosemarie Sokol Chang, a professor of psychology at SUNY New Paltz. “It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, everybody's equally distracted.” Surprisingly, the other sounds made no difference to the participants' mathematical prowess.


It may be that evolution has honed whining to a perfect pitch in order to attract attention. But researchers say that in the scientific community, it's been ignored. “Since this is the most overlooked of the three attachment vocalizations, this result shows the need for more research on the structure and effectiveness of whining,” write the researchers in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology.


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/22/science-confirms-it-whining-is-the-most-annoying-sound-ever/#ixzz1Q5oqDAPO

[Solly Mack]

1. teehee

[ImNotTed]

2. So true

For the first eight years of his life, my nephew Ryan did nothing BUT whine. I'm serious: He never actually SPOKE. He sounded like the old Joe Piscopo character George Whiner on SNL.

[Maine-ah]

9. my four year old is very good at whining

I tell her that I won't respond to anything until she talks to me in a normal voice. It works, and she stops.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. One more reason why I can't do calculus in Walmart. Now I know the rest of the story. n/t

[DireStrike]

4. This seems to test for distraction and not annoyance

Table saw sounds are in an entirely different class than human speech sounds, especially those intended to draw attention. Motherese is intended to calm.

I would like to see whining tested vs. the sounds of a couple having sex. That might actually be a tough distraction contest for whining to win.

[unblock]

5. that last paragraph above sound like they're whining for more research funds.

[Evasporque]

6. They also confirmed that the sky is indeed blue....nt

[MineralMan]

7. For me, there's something even worse...

It's the extremely high-pitched shriek small children make. It's an alarm sound, evolved to get the attention of any adult human. It works. Trouble is that small children use it also when they're not in any danger. It still gets the attention of adults, and they quickly learn that it does, and use it to great effect.

[madinmaryland]

8. Now I know why those posts about un-rec's annoy me so much!!

:popcorn:

[PotatoChip]

10. Ha! For those of you who can't see them, there is a Sarah Palin ad on this post.

I wonder if the words 'annoying' and 'whining' had something to do with generating it? :rofl:

ETA: It's gone now, but there was one.

[nilram]

11. Invalid study. They didn't include fingernails on a chalkboard. Sorry.

Bad scientist, no grant.

[MrScorpio]

12. You know what's just as bad as whining to me?

Actually, even worse: The West Coast Y Gen accent.

It's all over TV and it makes Valley talk sound like Shakespeare… It's too fucking high-pitched.

It's really bad when they get really excited and start talking over each other.

Thank god that I'm in Michigan