Purpose: Enhancement of musical perception has a positive impact on the emotional stability, quality of life, and aural rehabilitation in individuals with hearing loss. In Korea, however, there are a few test batteries available for properly assessing their abilities to perceive music. The purpose of this study was to develop a evaluation material for the music perception ability, Assessment of Music Perception (AMP) considering the Korean culture and emotion.Methods: A total of 15 normal hearing adults (33.1 ± 11.4 years) were recruited. They performed the AMP which includes eight sub-tests: pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre, and harmony perception test, emotional reaction test, Music listening Attitudes and Satisfaction Questionnaire (MASQ), and Mismatch negativity (MMN).Results: The average percentage of correct answer was 94.0% ± 6.1% in pitch perception test, 94.0% ± 7.1% in melody perception test, 99.3% ± 1.8% in rhythm perception test, 78.9% ± 41.8% in timbre perception test, 96.7% ± 10.4% in emotional reaction test, 85.7% ± 14.1% in harmony perception test. The area of the negative waveform for MMN was 275.27 ± 225.65 μV·ms with the intensity of 70 dBnHL.Conclusion: Considering high scores of a instrument, a developed AMP could be applied for evaluating the music perception ability. However, a little bit of correction for each factor of materials is recommended for comprehensive AMP material. In the future, the music perception ability of the hearing impaired should be evaluated utilizing AMP.

The evaluation of speech and language is crucial for children with normal hearing (NH) and hearing loss (HL). The aim of this study was to investigate the early communicative skills of children with NH and HL and to compare the performance depending on chronological age (CA) and hearing age (HA). Methods: Four tools, Korean MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (K M-B CDI), Sequenced Language Scale for Infants (SELSI), Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS DP) checklist and behavior sample were used. The data was collected from 50 children, 26 NH and 24 HL from 4 to 56 months of age. The average age of NH and HL groups was between 17-and 19-months-old, respectively. The HA of the HL group was 13-months-old. They were tested every two to three months. The developmental progress was analyzed by CA and HA. Results: With K M-B CDI, when CA and HA were compared for the HL group, the production of expressive language did not show any difference, but the receptive language and action-gesture scores were significantly better in HA at 7-9 months and 19-24 months. With SELSI, both receptive and expressive languages showed significantly better scores in HA (F(1,73) = 0.580, p < .05, F(1,73) = 11.036, p < .05). With CSBS DP, the HA showed significantly better social scores for checklist (F(1,63) = 6.248, p < .05). Conclusion: As the HA of the HL group showed superior performance compared to the corresponding age of the NH group even in the early stage, the effectiveness of HA following fitting of amplification device and the appropriate intervention has been implicated.

Background and Objectives: Recently, the improvement of music perception abilities for emotional stability and high quality of life has become important for the hearing loss group. This study aimed to examine and compare the music perception abilities of the normal hearing (NH) and hearing amplification system (HAS) groups to find the needs and methods of music rehabilitation. Subjects and Methods: The data were collected from 15 NH adults (33.1±11.4 years) and 15 HAS adults (38.7±13.4 years), of whom eight wore cochlear implant [CI] systems and seven wore CI and hearing aid systems depending on pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre, emotional reaction, and harmony perception tests. A mismatch negativity test was also conducted, and attitudes toward and satisfaction with listening to music were measured. Results: The correction percentages for the NH and HAS groups were 94.0%±6.1% and 75.3%±23.2% in the pitch test; 94.0%±7.1% and 30.3%±25.9% in the melody test; 99.3%±1.8% and 94.0%± 7.6% in the rhythm test; 78.9%±41.8% and 64.4%±48.9% in the timbre test; 96.7%±10.4% and 81.7%±16.3% in the emotional reaction test; and 85.7%±14.1% and 58.4%±13.9% in the harmony test, respectively, showing statistical significance (p<0.05). For the mismatch negativity test, the area of the waveform was smaller in the HAS groups than in the NH groups, with 70 dB of stimulation showing no statistical significance. The response rates for satisfaction with listening to music were 80% and 93.3% for the NH and HAS groups, showing no statistical significance. Conclusions: Although the HAS group showed lower music perception ability than the NH group overall, they showed a strong desire for music listening. Also, the HAS group revealed a higher degree of satisfaction even when listening to unfamiliar music played with unusual instruments. It is suggested that systematic and constant musical rehabilitation based on musical elements and different listening experiences will improve music perception qualities and abilities for HAS users.