Comparison of sound stimuli by Japanese and German subjects using electroencephalogram and the method of magnitude estimation

It is known that there is a little difference between Japanese and Westerners in the perception for sounds. It may be caused by the differences of their culture and different parts of their brain where the sounds are perceived. In order to make the causes clear, a few experiments were performed. The electroencephalogram (EEG) of twelve Japanese subjects and nein German subjects were measured without sound stimuli. Then their EEG was measured while being exposed to sound stimuli. As these stimuli, white noises, road traffic noises and three kinds of bird singings were used. In addition to the measurement of EEG, the subjects were asked to judge the "noisiness" of the sound stimuli by "the method of magnitude estimation". The results may be summarized as follows: (1) For all kinds of sound stimuli, the values of the "noisiness" evaluated by Japanese were higher than by Germans, but for white noises, there were no significant differences between the two. (2) In regard to EEG, the personal differences between individuals were not small. But the differences between Japanese and Germans were not clear except bird singings. In regard to electric potentials of alpha-2 waves, there were also differences in bird singings between the two.