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Dr. Matthew Winn, PhD, University of Minnesota
November 15, 2024
9:00 am
Foster Auditorium, Pattee and Paterno Library

Dr. Matthew Winn, PhD, University of Minnesota

Measuring the Invisible Effort of Listening with a Cochlear Implant

For people with hearing loss, the effort of listening to speech can have a significant impact on quality of life that goes overlooked in clinical evaluations and scientific experiments. In this talk, Matthew Winn will focus on the ways that we can measure and explain momentary changes in listening effort and listening strategy using measurements of pupil dilation and microsaccades. We are particularly interested in the differences in effort that result from using a cochlear implant. Across a series of studies, four takeaway messages emerge: (1) accuracy scores don’t give an adequate picture of listening effort, (2) the effort from one moment carries forward to impair perception of later words, (3) increased effort is not detectable in the voice of the listener as they give verbal responses, and (4) listeners with cochlear implants spread effort across situations where it is less needed, which might explain their reports of elevated fatigue. These results underscore the value of measuring strategy, inference, reaction, and planning, opening up the door for improved theoretical models and new approaches to clinical management.