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dc.contributor.authorWatts, Gregory R.*
dc.contributor.authorPheasant, Robert J.*
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-04T15:52:29Z
dc.date.available2016-01-04T15:52:29Z
dc.date.issued2015-03
dc.identifier.citationWatts GR and Pheasant RJ (2015) Tranquillity in the Scottish Highlands and Dartmoor National Park – The importance of soundscapes and emotional factors. Applied Acoustics, 89: 297–305.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10454/7622
dc.descriptionyesen_US
dc.description.abstractThe findings of a wildness study are presented where audio–visual stimuli (video footage), were assessed by experimental subjects under controlled conditions, in order to obtain reliable estimates of perceived tranquillity together with a number of other rated qualities including calmness and pleasantness. A wide range of mainly natural scenes totalling 46 were presented including footage from the Scottish Highlands and Dartmoor National Park. The findings clearly demonstrate that rated tranquillity relates closely to rated calmness and pleasantness and this agrees with earlier studies of soundscape categorisation. The effect of adding man-made sounds to the soundscape was shown to seriously degrade perceived tranquillity though ratings of wildness were not nearly as affected. Attempts to improve the level of tranquillity further by adding natural sounds were largely unsuccessful. It was considered important to determine if the previously employed Tranquillity Rating Prediction Tool (TRAPT) successfully validated for mainly urban open spaces could usefully predict tranquility in remote wildland areas. In fact results demonstrated the relatively close relationship between predicted and actually rated tranquillity in these remote areas which further extended the range of validity of the prediction tool. The findings of this study will challenge the notion that characterization of landscapes is purely a visual exercise and that soundscape quality needs to be considered as an integral part of this assessment process. For this reason the findings will be of interest to those responsible for managing and marketing protected areas such as National Parks, practitioners involved in carrying out landscape character assessments, cartographers and landscape architects involved in designing tranquil spaces across a range of scales.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsCopyright statement: © 2015 Elsevier. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.en_US
dc.subjectTranquillity; Soundscape; Landscapes; Perceived tranquillity; Audio–visual stimulien_US
dc.titleTranquillity in the Scottish Highlands and Dartmoor National Park – The importance of soundscapes and emotional factors.en_US
dc.status.refereedyesen_US
dc.date.Accepted2014-10-07
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.type.versionpublished version paperen_US
dc.description.publicnotesFull text was made available 1st March 2016 at the end of the publisher's embargo.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.10.006
refterms.dateFOA2016-03-01T00:00:00Z


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