title: Architectural acoustics in residences for adults with mental retardation and its relation to perceived homelikeness.
abstract: Previous investigators examined how architectural features of residences for adults with mental retardation contributed to the visual appearance of homelikeness. Acoustical characteristics of 18 residences for people with mental retardation were examined here. As part of a concurrent study, college undergraduates rated photographs of rooms in each house for their apparent homelikeness. Reverberation times in living and dining rooms were negatively correlated with mean homelikeness ratings. The less homelike rooms had reverberation times that may interfere with speech perception for some people and that were comparable with those found in larger public rooms (e.g., lecture halls). The larger reverberation times in these rooms were the result of insufficient sound absorption by these rooms' furnishings.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Egli
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Roper
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Feurer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D001108:Architecture / Q000592:standards*; D001307:Auditory Perception; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings / Q000592:standards; D010781:Photography; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000592:standards*; D013016:Sound; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013067:Speech Perception; D013637:Tape Recording; D014796:Visual Perception