McKinney 1

Arwen McKinney

Mrs. Stevens

Physical Science

12 December 2018

How Do Different Sounds Affect People Wearing Drunk Goggles?

Have you ever wondered if drunk goggles affect stress levels? I have. That’s why for this

experiment I decided to see how different sounds affected people wearing drunk goggles. ​I

thought that if I put drunk goggles and headphones on ten different people and played traffic

sounds, light traffic sounds, and nature sounds, then the traffic sounds would affect their stress

levels the most.

How Does Alcohol Affect You?

Drinking alcohol over time can affect your digestive tract by making it difficult for your

intestines to digest food or absorb nutrients. Alcohol can create serious complications in your

digestive system, for example, a buildup of enzymes in the pancreas. Inflammatory damage can

be done and the scarring it leaves behind is called cirrhosis. The liver removes harmful

substances from your body, like alcohol, which causes it to break down over time due to

cirrhosis, which can be life threatening. Not having a liver or pancreas functioning right affects

sugar levels in the way that your body can stop producing enough insulin to utilize sugar. This

may lead to hyperglycemia or affects similar to diabetes. Alcohol even affects your central

nervous system. It can cause you to have slurred speech, poor communication between your

body and brain coordination, numbness, and tingling in hands and feet. It also damages your

frontal lobe over time, which is responsible for things like short-term memory, emotional
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control, and judgment.(Luo)

How Accurate Are Drunk Goggles Compared To Alcohol?

Drunk goggles simulate many effects from vision impairment, poor decision making,

reduced alertness, lack of coordination, lack of distance perception, and double

vision(McDonald). Both drunk goggles and alcohol change the attractiveness of things that are

animate and inanimate to people(Ryback). Those wearing fatal vision goggles show a less

favorable attitude when it comes to drinking and driving. They are moderately effective at

lowering favorable attitudes on drinking and driving for at least a short amount of time. When

the tool is being used for preventing drinking and driving it is more effective when being

experienced by the individual, as opposed to other people watching someone experience it.

“Therefore, it appears that the strength of the Fatal Vision Goggles as a prevention tool is its

ability to allow an individual to experience the perception of intoxication quickly and

safely.”(Jewell)

What Is the Science behind Drunk Goggles?

Drunk goggles imitate the inability to access facial symmetry(Dobson). Fatal vision

goggles affect a person's equilibrium, causing people to behave as though they are

intoxicated(Jewell).

Can Different Noises Affect People’s Stress Levels?

Noise pollution can trigger our body's stress response, which can lead to chronic stress

due to the secretion of stress hormones. Chronic stress even has the ability to lower peoples

immunity to diseases. Noise can be a distraction and keep you less motivated in work and impair

long term memory. A study has shown that people working in a noisy environment can cause
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people to be in less comfortable work spaces, which can lead to different physical issues people

might have. Noise pollution also has an impact on physical things like an increase in blood

pressure, heart disease, and it can lead to having strokes. Noise can even keep you from sleeping

at night, preventing your body from getting the rest that it needs(Scott).

Can Stress Levels Affect the Way People Do Things?

When we are stressed, we may become more easily angered or aggravated. Stress can

even affect things from how we sleep to our sexual habits. It can also make you more withdrawn

or inflexible. The way you interact with friends or family is also affected. When stressed, people

can experience different aches or pains, nausea, or even indigestion. Stress over long periods of

time may affect sleeping patterns, eating habits, memory, and the motivation to exercise. (Stress)

How Does Alcohol Affect Stress Levels?

Alcohol is something people turn to for relief with stress, however, alcohol is only

temporary and can cause stress levels to be higher once the alcohol wears off. Regular heavy

drinking can make it hard to cope with stress in an effective, healthy way, due to the damages

done to the brain's neurotransmitters(Shortt). People use alcohol to help with different stressful

situations like social situations, to help them feel more comfortable, which can lead to the need

of more alcohol more often(Cherney). Alcohol causes the body to release higher amounts of

cortisol, changing what the body considers to be “normal,” shifting its hormonal balance, which

causes the body’s response to stress to change. Alcohol prevent your body from returning to its

original hormone balance level, forcing it to function in a different way than before. This process

is called allostasis(T).

I thought that if I put drunk goggles and headphones on ten different people and played
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traffic sounds, light traffic sounds, and nature sounds then the traffic sounds would affect their

stress levels the most​, and I found out that the did traffic sounds affected their stress levels the

most. I found that all of the participants had said that the traffic sounds had scared them or made

it more stressful to walk on the line. Although the time it took them to actually walk across the

line stayed pretty consistent, while listening to the traffic sounds, they walked off the line a lot

more. The average amount of time it took for everyone to make it across the line was about 8.5

seconds. In conclusion, I learned that different sounds along with drunk goggles do affect your

stress levels.
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Works Cited

“Alcohol Alert.” National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services, pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA85/AA85.htm.

Cherney, Kristeen, and Tim Jewell. “Alcohol and Anxiety.” 20 Nov. 2016

Dobson, Roger. “Scientists Solve the Mystery of How Beer Goggles Work.” The Independent,

Independent Digital News and Media, 31 Mar. 2012,

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-solve-the-mystery-of-how-beer-goggles-

work-7606251.html.

Jewell, Jeremy, et al. “The Effectiveness of Fatal Vision Goggles.” Semanticscholar,

pdfs.semanticscholar.org.

Luo, Elaine. “23 Effects of Alcohol on Your Body.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 2017,

www.healthline.com/health/alcohol/effects-on-body.

McDonald, Steve, and Jostein Tronseth. “Impairment Goggle .08 - .15 BAC (Black Strap) -- ON

SALE.” Drunk Busters of America, 2018, drunkbusters.com/impairment-goggle/.

Ryback, Ralph. “Are 'Beer Goggles' Real? Here's the Answer.” Psychology Today, Sussex

Publishers, 2016,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-truisms-wellness/201608/are-beer-goggles-real-h

eres-the-answer.

Scott, Elizabeth. “How Noise Pollution Might Be Stressing You Out.” Verywell Mind, Dotdash,

2018,

www.verywellmind.com/stress-and-noise-pollution-how-you-may-be-at-risk-3145041.
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Shortt, Tanya. “Esource.dbs.ie.” Esource.dbs.ie, 2018.

“Stress.” Mental Health Foundation, 7 Nov. 2018, www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stress.

T, Buddy. “Drinking to Relieve Stress May Actually Compound the Problem.” Verywell Mind,

Dotdash, 2018, www.verywellmind.com/the-link-between-stress-and-alcohol-67239.