Effects of Gamification on Assessment of Spatial Release From Masking.
William J Bologna, Audrey A Carrillo, David S Clamage and 6 others
PMID 36763846WHAT IT FOUND
Gamified hearing tests gave similar results to standard ones when stopped at the same point.
But because the game took three times longer, it let participants practice more, revealing better performance in noisy conditions that standard tests miss.
Key findings
01When thresholds were calculated from the same number of trials, the gamified and traditional tests produced similar estimates of spatial release from masking.
02The gamified test took significantly longer to complete, averaging 4.5 minutes and 30.2 reversals compared to 1.5 minutes and 10 reversals for the traditional test.
03Analyzing the final trials of the longer gamified runs showed better performance in the separated condition and greater spatial release than the traditional test, likely due to learning effects from extra exposure.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used young adults with normal hearing, who are less likely to experience communication difficulties in noise than typical clinical populations. The gamified test was significantly longer than the traditional test, making it difficult to separate the effects of gamification (engagement) from simple exposure (practice). The speech material used (CRM sentences) is synthetic and lacks real-world context, which may not reflect everyday listening challenges. Participants tested themselves remotely with their own equipment, which introduces variability in testing conditions compared to a controlled clinic.
Declared interests
The text does not explicitly state funding sources or conflicts of interest in the provided sentences, though it notes participants received course credit.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that gamification inherently improves hearing test scores. The better results seen in the gamified condition were likely due to the longer test time allowing for practice and learning, not because the game elements made the patients hear better.