The Effects of Familiarity and Complexity on Appraisal of Complex Songs by Cochlear Implant Recipients and Normal Hearing Adults

Abstract

The purposes of this study were (a) to develop a test of complex song appraisal that would be suitable for use with adults who use a cochlear implant (assistive hearing device) and (b) to compare the appraisal ratings (liking) of complex songs by adults who use cochlear implants (n = 66) with a comparison group of adults with normal hearing (n = 36). The article describes the development of a computerized test for appraisal, with emphasis on its theoretical basis and the process for item selection of naturalistic stimuli. The appraisal test was administered to the 2 groups to determine the effects of prior song familiarity and subjective complexity on complex song appraisal. Comparison of the 2 groups indicates that the implant users rate 2 of 3 musical genres (country western, pop) as significantly more complex than do normal hearing adults, and give significantly less positive ratings to classical music than do normal hearing adults. Appraisal responses of implant recipients were examined in relation to hearing history, age, performance on speech perception and cognitive tests, and musical background.

The Experience of Music in Congenital Amusia

“…Due to limitations in the current state of technology, the cochlear implant device is constrained in its ability to code the spectrum of sound needed to perceive pitch and timbre (Galvin, Fu, & Nogaki, 2007;Sucher & McDermott, 2007). Not surprisingly, some cochlear implant users describe music as "hard to follow" and rate the sound of musical instruments as "emptier" than they would have expected a normal hearing listener to have perceived it (Gfeller, Witt, Woodworth, Mehr, & Knutson, 2002;Gfeller et al, 2003). In line with the suggestion that impaired perception may be a limiting factor in the appreciation of musical sound, several amusic individuals report difficulty in making sense of their perceptual experience.…”

“…In one scenario, if engagement and appreciation of music are dependent upon the listener having an intact representation of its intrinsic features, then we would expect that individuals with amusia would be unable to fully engage with and appreciate music. Cochlear implant users constitute one group of individuals for whom an impoverished perception of music's intrinsic features results in a negative impact on levels of music appreciation (e.g., Gfeller, Christ, Knutson, Witt, & Mehr, 2003;Leal et al, 2003). Due to limitations in the current state of technology, the cochlear implant device is constrained in its ability to code the spectrum of sound needed to perceive pitch and timbre (Galvin, Fu, & Nogaki, 2007;Sucher & McDermott, 2007).…”

Assessment and improvement of sound quality in cochlear implant users

“…One major limiting–but not well‐studied–perceptual construct is sound quality. Sound quality is different from sound appraisal, which is a construct not consistently defined in the literature but often referred to as subjective pleasantness or likeability of a sound 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Sound quality, in contrast, is defined here as the perceived richness of an auditory stimulus.…”

“…Sound quality and sound appraisal may be related to each other in some cases, but not always; for example, perceived pleasantness of a sound does not necessarily correspond to high sound quality. While a number of studies have highlighted diminished sound appraisal in CI users,1, 2, 3, 8 sound quality perception remains relatively unexplored. The few studies that have focused on sound quality suggest that it is diminished in CI‐mediated listening relative to normal hearing (NH) listeners 9, 10, 11.…”

The effect of symmetrical and asymmetrical hearing impairment on music quality perception

“…Data analysis 164 The data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0 to perform parametric and non- analysis because previous research showed that these two effects might influence the music 171 quality rating in NH and HI subjects [1,20,28]. Moreover, Pearson tests were separately used 172 to explore the relationship between hearing thresholds and music quality rating in HI 173 participants, respectively.…”