Change deafness with recognizable and unrecognizable sounds

Abstract

Change Deafness with Recognizable and Unrecognizable Sounds Change deafness is the remarkably frequent inability of listeners to detect changes occurring in their auditory environment. In this study, we used behavioral measures and event-related potentials (ERPs) to determine if change deafness is a fundamental auditory sensory process, rather than simply a reflection of verbal or semantic memory limitations. Change detection performance was examined for scenes composed of four recognizable or unrecognizable sounds. Listeners completed a change detection task by making a same/different judgment for two consecutively presented scenes that were either the same (Same trials) or had one sound replaced by another sound (Change trials). The behavioral data indicated substantial change deafness for both recognizable and unrecognizable sounds, indicating that change deafness is not the result of verbal or semantic memory limitations. In Change trials, N1 ERPs were less smaller in the post-change scene on trials in which the change was not detected, suggesting that change deafness is associated with less robust sensory encoding. P3 ERPs to the post-change scene were also smaller for non-detected changes, which may reflect lack of memory updating, attention, and/or awareness during change deafness. Overall, the results provide novel information regarding the stages of processing involved in change deafness in natural auditory scenes.