Exploring the effect of the occurrence of sound on force applied by the ear when listening at a surface

In this article, we explore the effect of the occurrence of a target sound on the force that is applied by the ear when listening at a surface because differences in applied force induce variation in earprints of a single ear. Forty-two subjects each listened four times at a surface. During two of these listening efforts there was silence. While the subjects were listening, we measured the amount of force that was applied to the surface. To explore the effect of the occurrence of a target sound upon applied force, we applied a mixed model analysis of variance. The force applied by the ear appeared to be uncorrelated to presence or absence of a target sound. This lack of association appeared not to be the result of potential confounders. Only repetition (i.e., the position of a listening effort in the series of four), appeared to significantly affect applied force; this force being generally lower during a first listening effort.