Donald Fucci, dfucci1@ohiou.edu
Ohio University
School of Hearing & Speech Sciences
Athens, OH 45701
Popular version of paper 4aSCb29
Presented Thursday morning, November 4, 1999
138th ASA Meeting, Columbus, Ohio
A series of studies have been performed in which the method of magnitude estimation has been used to scale sound intensity (Beck & Shaw, 1965; Hellman & Zwislocki, 1964; Poulton, 1968; Stevens, 1971; Teghtsoonian, 1973; Zwislocki & Goodman, 1980). Magnitude estimation has the advantage of being a reliable subjective scaling method that allows individuals to freely assign numbers to stimulus intensities (Algom & Marks, 1990; Harris, Fucci, Petrosino, & Belch, 1992; Marks, 1988).
Subjects of all ages and abilities appear to be able to scale loudness using magnitude estimation scaling (Hellman & Zwislocki, 1963; Hellman & Zwislocki, 1964; Poulton, 1968; Zwislocki & Goodman, 1980). In 1993, a study of the effect of preference for rock music on magnitude estimation scaling behavior in young adults showed that the subjects who disliked rock music provided significantly higher mean numerical responses for all intensities presented (Fucci, Harris, Petrosino, & Banks, 1993). It was concluded that they perceived the stimuli as being louder simply because they did not like rock music. Another study indicated that gender influenced magnitude estimation scaling of rock music (Fucci, Petrosino, & Banks, 1994). The female subjects preferences for rock music were related to their numerical responses during magnitude estimation tasks whereas the male subjects preferences were not. If the females disliked rock music they would provide higher numbers than females who liked rock music. The males who disliked rock music provided the same numerical responses as those who liked rock music. The males did not pay any attention to their preferences for rock music when actually performing the scaling task. The effects of aging on magnitude estimation scaling of the loudness of rock music were also investigated (Fucci, McColl, & Petrosino, 1998). The numerical responses given by the older group of subjects indicated that they perceived all nine suprathreshold intensities as being louder than the younger group of subjects. The older group may have perceived the stimulus intensities as being louder because of the physical and affective changes that naturally occur in central auditory processing during the aging process. All of the older subjects disliked rock music and might have provided higher numerical responses for that reason alone.
The present study is concerned with continuation of the investigation of the impact that age might have on magnitude estimation scaling of rock music. It is focused on the magnitude estimation responses of children to rock music stimuli. The same design and rock music stimuli used in the above mentioned research was employed in the current study.
METHOD
Subjects
Three groups of subjects were used in this study. The first two groups of subjects were part of an earlier study by Fucci, McColl, & Petrosino,1998. The first of these two groups consisted of 10 young adults ranging in age from 18 to 21 years (M age = 19.3 yr.). The second of these two groups consisted of 10 older individuals ranging in age from 51 to 58 years (M age = 54.2 yr.). Since all of the older subjects surveyed definitely disliked rock music, only those young people who definitely disliked rock music were used as subjects. The third group of subjects was comprised of 10 children ranging in age from 5 to 10 years (M age = 8.1 yr.). When surveyed as to their preference for rock music, the children were inconsistent in their responses. Most of them appeared not to like or dislike rock music, providing the experimenters with a neutral response.
Apparatus
The auditory stimulus was 10 sec. of rock music (Led Zeppelin, 1969). The taped auditory stimulus was delivered to the subjects binaurally through headphones.
Procedure
All three groups received the same experimental treatment. During the auditory magnitude estimation task, each subject was instructed to assign a number to each of a series of nine randomly presented intensity levels of the rock music stimulus (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 decibels above the subject's threshold). The subject was instructed to assign a number according to how loud the stimulus was. Each subject listened to the 10 second sample of rock music presented at one of the sensation levels before providing the rating of the loudness of the music. For each of the three groups, the geometric means of the subjects' numerical responses to a single run of each of the nine stimulus intensities were taken as the mean auditory magnitude estimation responses for that group (Petrosino, Fucci, & Harris, 1985).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results indicated that the three groups differed significantly in their numerical responses to the nine stimulus intensities (F29,240 = 2.23, p is less than or equal to .0006). As reported earlier, the older group's mean responses were significantly higher than the younger group's at each stimulus intensity (Fucci, McColl, & Petrosino, 1998). The children demonstrated a wider range of numerical responses than the adults. For the lowest intensity level, the children provided numerical responses slightly lower than those of the other two groups of subjects, and for the highest intensity level, they provided numerical responses that were much higher than those of the other two groups of subjects (Figure. 1). The range of mean numerical responses for the children was .54 to 54.24. For the young adults the range was .76 to 11.37, and for the older subjects it was 1.6 to 23.31.
Figure 1. Magnitude estimation of the loudness of a rock music stimulus presented at 10 to 90 dB above the hearing threshold of each of the children, younger subjects, and older subjects.
The results suggest that the children used in this study were not bound by the same set of rules as were the adult subjects in regard to magnitude estimation scaling of the loudness of rock music. The children used a much wider range of numbers to make their loudness judgments and their numerical selections were much less predictable. The adults usually selected a series of equally spaced numbers from one to ten or one to one hundred. The children would each select a different set of numerical responses with no noticeable uniformity of spacing. One child, for example, might start out with a rating of one or less for the lowest stimulus intensity followed by a two or three for the next lowest stimulus intensity, and then make a big jump to an estimation of 100 or 200 somewhere around mid range. The numerical responses of the children were in order as were those of the adults (as stimulus intensity increased, so did the numerical responses), but the spacing and overall ranges were very different. It appears that as individuals age, they develop an internal scaling mechanism with regard to numbers (Zwislocki and Goodman, 1980). This internal criterion measure for numbers, once solidified, seems to remain with the individual for life. The children appeared to be free to vary their responses more than the adults.
When informally asked about their feelings toward rock music, the children provided diverse input just as they did in their loudness judgments. It appeared that they, as a group, did not have a definite category for rock music or any type of music in particular. They viewed music as a single entity that was all-inclusive. In comparison, the adults had definite likes and dislikes toward rock music which could have influenced their results (Fucci, Harris, Petrosino, & Banks, 1993). It was this knowledge that caused the experimenters to choose only those adults who disliked rock music for this study.
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