Music Perception and Enjoyment of CI Users: A Brief Overview of Research Findings

Music Perception and Enjoyment of CI Users: A Brief Overview of Research Findings

Presented by Kate Gfeller CICI convention, July 25, 1999

Cochlear implant users' reaction to music varies widely. Not much research has been done regarding music enjoyment by people with cochlear implants. Most research has focused on speech and language.

Her study found that CI users compare favorably with normally hearing people in their perception of rhythm. Pitch perception, however, varies widely among the implant users, who are also less accurate than their hearing peers in the identification of pitch. Poor pitch recognition leads to difficulty recognizing melody patterns. Thus, implant users are better at perceiving rhythm than melody.

People with implants are less accurate than their hearing peers in identifying musical instruments by sound alone. People who can hear err within an instrument family but can correctly identify the family; implant users, however, err more "diffusely."

Many implant users dislike violin music, finding it "irritating."

A comparison of hearing people and implant users found the following: Hearing people were better at recognizing and appraising timbre. Hearing people were better at discerning difficult rhythm patterns. Implant users were as good as their hearing peers at discerning simple rhythms.

For the best listening, the situation should be set up as follows: The room should be quiet, with good acoustics-no reverberation. The implant user should be able to see the performer (on stage, TV, video, etc.) and follow the notes or lyrics while listening. The sound equipment, such as a radio or CD player, should be of good quality. The listener should use cues such as what s/he knows or remembers about the music being heard.

The more listening an implant user does, the better music sounds. Go from simple music to more complicated pieces, such as progressing from nursery rhymes to duets to quartets to orchestras.

Children whom she studied were, on average, age 14. Seven out of 10 children with implants had scores comparable to normally hearing 8-year olds. Hearing aid users did not do as well as implant users in music perception. Children with implants tested at 1 S.D. (standard deviation) below normally hearing children, and hearing aid users tested below implant users.

Attitude toward music of all implant users, children and adults of all ages: 8% hate music. 8% gave no reaction to music. 25% participate in music at the behest of others. 60% enjoy and participate in music on their own.

Her group is now doing field trials training adults with cochlear implants to enjoy music. If the trials are successful, they will make a CD of the training available for people with implants to use to teach themselves how to enjoy music. The results of their work will be published.