Vocal Emotion Identification by Children Using Cochlear Implants, Relations to Voice Quality, and Musical Interests

Area of Science:

• Auditory Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Speech and Hearing Science

Background:

• Children with hearing impairment (HI) often face challenges in auditory processing, impacting social-emotional development.
• Cochlear implants (CIs) are crucial assistive devices, but their effectiveness in complex auditory tasks like emotion recognition requires further investigation.
• Understanding factors influencing emotion identification in HI children is vital for optimizing CI use and support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare emotion identification accuracy between children with HI using CIs and their normal-hearing peers.
• To investigate the influence of musical interests and acoustic properties of vocal stimuli on emotion recognition in children.
• To explore the role of implantation age and voice quality parameters in emotion identification.

Main Methods:

• Listening tests were administered to children with HI (N=25) and normal-hearing children (N=18) aged 8-17 years.
• Participants identified emotions (excitement, anger, contentment, fear) from vocal stimuli (nonsense sentences, vowels).
• Acoustic analysis of stimuli was performed using Praat; statistical analysis used SPSS 24.

Main Results:

• Children with HI achieved 57% accuracy, while normal-hearing children achieved 75% accuracy.
• Earlier implantation age (before 3 years) correlated with higher accuracy (p < .05).
• Musical interests and specific voice quality parameters (e.g., F3 formant frequency) were linked to improved emotion identification.

Conclusions:

• Implantation age, musical interests, and voice quality significantly impact emotion identification in children with HI.
• Acoustic features of vocal emotional expressions, particularly F3 formant frequency, should be considered in CI development.
• Supporting musical interests can enhance emotional development and social integration for children with HI.