Un-silencing an Experimental Technique

Listening to the Electrical Penetration Graph

Bibliographic Data

ID5409156
AuthorsOwen Marshall (0000-0003-3477-2618, Cornell University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume47
Issue5
Pages1011-1032
Publication date2022-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/01622439211023552
OpenAlexW3176364458
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited29

In scientific work, sonification (i.e., the use of nonspeech audio to convey information) is primarily thought of as a novel way to communicate post hoc research findings to lay audiences but only rarely, if ever, as a component of the research itself. This article argues that, rather than any inherent epistemological limitations of sound as a medium of scientific reasoning, this framing reflects a sociohistorical tendency to "silence" experimental techniques as they become widely adopted-both in terms of the literal silencing of noisy instrumentation and the elision of the role of sound (along with other nonvisual sensory media) in received discovery accounts. This tendency is well-illustrated by the history of electrophysiology research, particularly the case of the electrical penetration graph (EPG), an instrument used by entomologists to study how insects feed on plants. Combining participant observation, interviews, and analysis of EPG technical literature, this article recovers the unacknowledged role of sound in EPG's exploratory stages and gradual emergence as a standard laboratory technique as well as its gradual silencing as a consequence of this standardizing process

Acoustics · Active listening · Aesthetics · Art · Cognitive science · Silence · Soundscape · Animal and Plant Science Education · Communication · Computer Science · Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies · Psychology