Ear Undergoes Third Degree In Memorial Hall Basement

Memorial Hall may he 80 years behind the times in architecture, but its basement is startlingly up-to-date with the new Psycho-Acoustical. Laboratory hot on the trail of revolutionary discoveries on the mechanics and psychology of the ear.

How sound is analyzed and differentiation in the ear in the foremost problem at the present time. This portion of the research is being handled by George von Bekesy, research lecturer in the Psycho-Acoustical Laboratory and head of the department of physics in the University of Budapest.

Develops New Technique

Bekesy has, over a period of 20 years, developed a technique for observing what happens inside the inner and middle ear. Using microscopes and fine hair probes, he is able to measure the elasticity of the inner membrane and to observe its motions and mechanical properties.

Once the delicate canals have been opened, in itself a highly specialized procedure, it is possible to record the effects sounds of varying pitch and intensity have on this membrane.

Working with Bekesy and also involved in original studies are Walter A. Bosenblith and Robert Galambos, M.D., both Research Fellows in the Psycho-Acoustical Laboratory. Rosenblith, a physicist, is doing electrical measurements of sound, while Galambos is interested in correlating known psychological facts of hearing with such physiological data as may come to light in the ear experiments. The problem is, in fact, "how do we hear?," Galambos says.

Animal Instinots Studied

Also in progress in the laboratory in a study of animal instincts, with pack rats and hamsters, a Near East relative of the gopher, as chief subjects. Answers are being sought to such questions as why do rats form packs, why do they heard and transport miscellaneous small objects, and why do some animals build houses?

The Psycho-Acoustical Laboratory is a product of war research in problems of mechanical noises and their effect on personnel. It was established in 1940, at which time the basement of Memorial Hall was altered to make an efficient and ultra-modern headquarters. Later, when the Social Relations Department and the Department of Psychology split up, it seemed only logical, in view of the close tieup between psychology and acoustics, to turn over a portion of the Laboratory to Psychology and the shift was made in 1947.