Individual Differences, Cognitive Abilities, and the Interpretation of Auditory Graphs

Auditory graphs exploit pattern recognition in the auditory system, but questions remain about the relationship between cognitive abilities, demographics, and sonification interpretation. Subjects completed a magnitude estimation task relating sound dimensions to data dimensions. Subjects also completed a working memory task (2-back task) and a spatial reasoning task (Raven's Progressive Matrices) to assess cognitive abilities. Demographics, such as gender, age, handedness, and musical experience, were also reported and included in the analysis. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between the independent (cognitive abilities and demographics) and dependent (individual slopes and R-squared values) variables. The regression analysis indicates some support for most of the predictor variables, especially predicting R-squared values. The 2-back task does not seem to contribute significantly to the interpretation of sonifications and auditory graphs. However, Raven's and many of the demographic variables do show predictive value for interpretation of auditory graphs.