The emergence of cognitive hearing science.

TLDR: Cognitive Hearing Science is illustrated in research on three general topics: (1) language processing in challenging listening conditions; (2) use of auditory communication technologies or the visual modality to boost performance; (3) changes in performance with development, aging, and rehabilitative training.

Abstract: Cognitive Hearing Science or Auditory Cognitive Science is an emerging field of interdisciplinary research concerning the interactions between hearing and cognition. It follows a trend over the last half century for interdisciplinary fields to develop, beginning with Neuroscience, then Cognitive Science, then Cognitive Neuroscience, and then Cognitive Vision Science. A common theme is that an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to understand complex human behaviors, to develop technologies incorporating knowledge of these behaviors, and to find solutions for individuals with impairments that undermine typical behaviors. Accordingly, researchers in traditional academic disciplines, such as Psychology, Physiology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Sociology benefit from collaborations with each other, and with researchers in Computer Science and Engineering working on the design of technologies, and with health professionals working with individuals who have impairments. The factors that triggered the emergence of Cognitive Hearing Science include the maturation of the component disciplines of Hearing Science and Cognitive Science, new opportunities to use complex digital signal-processing to design technologies suited to performance in challenging everyday environments, and increasing social imperatives to help people whose communication problems span hearing and cognition. Cognitive Hearing Science is illustrated in research on three general topics: (1) language processing in challenging listening conditions; (2) use of auditory communication technologies or the visual modality to boost performance; (3) changes in performance with development, aging, and rehabilitative training. Future directions for modeling and the translation of research into practice are suggested.

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Fig. 1. The number of publications in each of three five-year periods, based on

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Linköping University Post Print
The emergence of cognitive hearing science.
Stig Arlinger, Thomas Lunner, Björn Lyxell and M Kathleen Pichora-Fuller
N.B.: When citing this work, cite the original article.
The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com:
Stig Arlinger, Thomas Lunner, Björn Lyxell and M Kathleen Pichora-Fuller, The emergence
of cognitive hearing science., 2009, Scandinavian journal of psychology, (50), 5, 371-384.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00753.x
Copyright: Blackwell Publishing
Postprint available at: Linköping University Electronic Press
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-21335

Emergence of cognitive hearing science
1
The Emergence of Cognitive Hearing Science
Stig Arlinger
1, 2
, Thomas Lunner
1, 2, 3, 4
, Björn Lyxell
2, 4
, and M. Kathleen Pichora-Fuller
4,5,6
1) Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Technical Audiology,
Linköping University, Sweden
2) The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Sweden
3) Oticon A/S, Research Centre Eriksholm, Snekkersten, Denmark
4) Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden
5) Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada
6) Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto, Canada
Note: Order of authors is alphabetical.
M. K. Pichora-Fuller, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 3359 Mississauga Rd.
N., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 1C6
E-mail: k.pichora.fuller@utoronto.ca

Emergence of cognitive hearing science
2
Abstract
Cognitive Hearing Science or Auditory Cognitive Science is an emerging field of
interdisciplinary research concerning the interactions between hearing and cognition. It follows a
trend over the last half century for interdisciplinary fields to develop, beginning with
Neuroscience, then Cognitive Science, then Cognitive Neuroscience, and then Cognitive Vision
Science. A common theme is that an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to understand
complex human behaviours, to develop technologies incorporating knowledge of these
behaviours, and to find solutions for individuals with impairments that undermine typical
behaviours. Accordingly, researchers in traditional academic disciplines, such as Psychology,
Physiology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Sociology benefit from collaborations
with each other, and with researchers in Computer Science and Engineering working on the
design of technologies, and with health professionals working with individuals who have
impairments. The factors that triggered the emergence of Cognitive Hearing Science include the
maturation of the component disciplines of Hearing Science and Cognitive Science, new
opportunities to use complex digital signal-processing to design technologies suited to
performance in challenging everyday environments, and increasing social imperatives to help
people whose communication problems span hearing and cognition. Cognitive Hearing Science is
illustrated in research on three general topics: 1. language processing in challenging listening
conditions; 2. use of auditory communication technologies or the visual modality to boost
performance; 3. changes in performance with development, aging, and rehabilitative training.
Future directions for modelling and the translation of research into practice are suggested.

Emergence of cognitive hearing science
3
Introduction
Cognitive Hearing Science is an emerging field of interdisciplinary research concerning the
interactions between human hearing and cognition. Its emergence follows a trend over the last
half century for new fields to develop because an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to
understand complex human behaviours, to develop technologies incorporating knowledge of
these behaviours, and to find solutions for individuals who have impairments that undermine
typical behaviours. The evolution of interdisciplinary approaches to research concerning the mind
and brain is reflected in the formation of new societies. For example, the Society for
Neuroscience, founded in 1969, brought together scientists and physicians studying the brain and
the nervous system (Society for Neuroscience, 2009). Ten years later, in 1979, the Cognitive
Science Society was established to promote research across traditional disciplines, including
Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Anthropology, Psychology, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and
Education, so that interchange between researchers in these disciplines could advance the
common goal of understanding the human mind (Cognitive Science Society, 2009). By 1994, the
Cognitive Neuroscience Society was formed to unite brain, mind, and behaviour researchers
(Cognitive Neuroscience Society, 2004). More recently, in 2001, the Vision Sciences Society was
formed to advance interdisciplinary understanding of vision, and its relation to cognition, action
and the brain (Vision Sciences Society, 2009). Even more recently, in 2007, the Auditory
Cognitive Science Society held its first meeting, with the name of the organization changing to
Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Society in 2009 (Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Society,
2009). The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the past, present, and future of Cognitive Hearing
Science as an interdisciplinary field.

Emergence of cognitive hearing science
4
Inter-twined histories of cognitive and auditory research
Although the mind and knowledge had been studied by philosophers, physiologists, and
psychologists for centuries, modern Cognitive Psychology emerged in the decades after World
War II with a focus on human performance and attention, accompanied by synergistic
developments in Computer Science and Linguistics (Anderson, 2000). In the post-WWII period,
there was also a dramatic increase in the membership and publications of the Acoustical Society
of America, the largest organization of hearing and acoustics researchers from disciplines
spanning Physics, Engineering, Physiology, Psychology, Linguistics, Music, and Architecture
(Acoustical Society of America, 2009). Thus, the study of the senses and the mind converged in
the early years of the modern eras of Cognitive Psychology and Hearing Science. Indeed, ground-
breaking work that spanned cognitive and auditory research was performed in the 1950‟s by
Broadbent, Cherry and others in Cambridge (Broadbent, 1958) who studied dichotic listening and
selective attention, coining the term „cocktail party phenomena‟, which is still used to refer to
prevailing research questions concerning how listeners perform in complex, realistic
environments. Speech scientists developed new models and experimental phonetics
methodologies to explore the relationships between the production, acoustics and perception of
speech (Raphael, Borden, & Harris, 2007), while psycholinguistics began to investigate language
behaviour from an information processing perspective (Kess, 1991). Furthermore, in the post-
WWII era, Audiology was born as a field of clinical practice because of the need to rehabilitate
veterans with noise-induced hearing loss, engineers used new knowledge of electronics to design
smaller and more easily worn hearing aids, and auditory physiologists embarked on research to
understand the afferent and efferent pathways from cochlea to cortex as they related to the
auditory and cognitive processes involved in language, memory, and attention, even though this
ultimate goal would not be attainable for many years (Davis & Silverman, 1970).

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What have the authors contributed in "The emergence of cognitive hearing science" ?

Cognitive Hearing Science or Auditory Cognitive Science is an emerging field of interdisciplinary research concerning the interactions between hearing and cognition this paper. 

Q2. What are the factors that triggered the emergence of cognitive hearing science?

The factors that triggered the emergence of Cognitive Hearing Science include the maturation of the component disciplines of Hearing Science and Cognitive Science, new opportunities to use complex digital signal-processing to design technologies suited to performance in challenging everyday environments, and increasing social imperatives to help people whose communication problems span hearing and cognition. 

Q3. What is the effect of noise background on listening memory?

studies have shown that the complexity of the listening situation also affects memory, for example, listeners, especiallyolder listeners, recall less as the target materials become more complex, progressing from words to sentences, and as the background noise becomes more interfering, progressing from quiet, to a single competing speaker, to two competing speakers, to multi-talker babble, and to white noise (Tun & Wingfield, 1999; Wingfield & Tun, 2001). 

Q4. What is the effect of hearing aids on cognitive decline?

following intervention with hearing aids, there is a reduced rate of decline on cognitive screening tests (Allen et al., 2003) and slower cognitive decline in Alzheimer‟s cases (Peters, Potter, & Scholer, 1988; Wahl & Heyl, 2003). 

Q5. What is the long-term course of the connections between the peripheral and central auditory nervous system?

The long time course of the maturation of the connections between the peripheral and central auditory nervous system seem to accompany the refinement of higher-level cognitive processing as learning continues in domains such as language and music (Werner 1996). 

Q6. What is the reason for the disproportionate speech understanding problems of older adults?

One possible explanation for the disproportionate speech understanding problems of older adults is that, in addition to the typical auditory processing problems arising from damage to the outer hair cells in the cochlea, neural type presbycusis and associated auditory temporal processing problems may reduce the clarity of sounds even when they are audible (Pichora-Fuller & Souza, 2003; Pichora-Fuller et al., 2007; Pichora-Fuller & MacDonald, 2008). 

Q7. What was the productive method of study for cognitive psychologists?

In general, it was productive for cognitive psychologists to study healthy young adults inideal conditions and for audiologist to study the effects of hearing loss using simple speechstimuli. 

Q8. What are the main factors that have motivated the convergence of auditory and cognitive research around the end?

Numerous factors seem to have motivated the gradual convergence of auditory andcognitive research around the end of the millennium, including the need to understand how listeners perform in more ecologically realistic situations (Bregman, 1990; Handel, 1989; McAdams & Bigand, 1993; Neuhoff, 2004), how lifespan changes and impairments alter performance (Schneider & Pichora-Fuller, 2000; Wahlin, MacDonald, de Frias, Nilsson, & Dixon, 2006), how to design new communication technologies using advanced signal-processing and more customized ergonomics (Edwards, 2007), and how to implement educational and rehabilitation programs to enhance performance based on evidence of brain plasticity (Kraus et al., 1995; Tremblay, 2007). 

Q9. What is the time to implant a child with a unilateral CI?

Based on a series of studies, Anu Sharma and her colleagues conclude that the optimal time to implant a congenitally deaf child with a unilateral CI is within the first 3.5 years of life when the central pathways show maximal plasticity (Sharma, Nash, & Dorman, 2009). 

Q10. What is the main reason for the correlation between hearing loss and cognitive decline?

Consistent with the deprivation hypothesis, in a study of an elderly Swedish cohort (Rönnberg et al., 2009), degree of hearing loss (but not vision loss) in a sample of hearing aid wearers was correlated with measures of long-term episodic memory performance. 

Q11. What is the link between cognitive skills and word recognition in noise?

A recent review supports the conclusion that there is a link between cognitive skills and word recognition in noise, with measures of working memory being more effective in predicting performance compared to measures of global cognitive skills, such as IQ (Akeroyd, 2008). 

Q12. What is the importance of cognitive factors in accounting for individual differences in speech understanding?

the importance of cognitive factors in accounting for individual differences in speech understanding was clearly demonstrated in a series of studies in which speech was spectrally-shaped and amplified to ensure the audibility of frequency components up to at least 4 kHz (Humes, 2002, 2007). 

Q13. What are the factors that affect the development of cognitive skills?

Development of language-related skills such as reading and writing (Asker-Arnáson, Wengelin, & Sahlén, 2008; Geers, Tobey, Moog, & Brenner, 2008; Lyxell et al 2008), word learning and grammar (Willstedt-Svensson, Löfqvist, Almqvist, & Sahlén, 2004), and conversational skills (Lyxell et al., 2008) are correlated with factors such as working memory capacity and phonological skills.