Effects of Gamification on Performance and Subjective Listening Effort on a Spatial Release From Masking Task.
William J Bologna, Katharine P Buckheit, Katie Esser and 4 others
PMID 41237762WHAT IT FOUND
A gamified listening test improved performance scores but made patients feel they were doing worse.
It increased mental demand and frustration because users lost the game races, even though their actual hearing accuracy was better than on the standard test.
Key findings
01Participants performed better (had lower target-to-masker ratio thresholds) on the gamified test compared to the traditional test.
02Subjectively, participants reported greater mental demand, faster pace, lower perceived success, and greater frustration with the gamified test.
03The negative self-perception of success was likely driven by losing the game races, not by poor auditory performance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only young adults (mean age 23.71) with normal hearing, so results may not apply to older adults or those with hearing loss. There was an unintentional difference in the starting difficulty between the traditional and gamified tests, though the authors state this was unlikely to affect the subjective results. The gamified test took longer to administer, which may impact clinical efficiency. Subjective ratings were collected after the entire test block, not for each condition separately, limiting comparisons between spatial conditions.
Declared interests
The work was supported by a National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders grant. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improved objective scores on a gamified hearing test equate to a better patient experience. In this study, patients performed better but felt more frustrated and less successful because they perceived themselves as losing the game, regardless of their actual auditory accuracy.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →