Alarm and Auditory-Interface Design: Learnability of alarms and auditory-feedback for random and meaningful melodic alarm sounds investigated in a paired-associate paradigm.
Author
Schalkwijk, Lars Frederic Johannes
Term
4. Term
Education
Publication year
2017
Abstract
I miljøer med høj informationsmængde og kognitiv belastning er hurtig og korrekt identifikation af lydlige alarmer og feedback afgørende, men abstrakte alarmsignaler er ofte svære at lære. Denne afhandling undersøger, om korte melodiske alarmsignaler, der er komponeret med konceptuelle metaforer, kan gøre det lettere at knytte en lyd til dens betydning (signal-referentrelation). Med udgangspunkt i tidligere forskning i alarmer, lydtyper og lærbarhed blev der komponeret og udvalgt melodier og gennemført et par‑associationsparadigme med ni signal‑referent‑par. Én betingelse brugte vilkårlige koblinger mellem lyd og label, mens en anden brugte meningsfulde, metaforiske koblinger, hvor melodien semantisk passede til alarmens funktion. Resultaterne peger på, at når melodiske alarmer er semantisk afstemt med deres label/funktion, kan den typiske lærbarhedsulempe ved abstrakte lyde i høj grad afhjælpes, hvilket fører til bedre identifikation og mindre indlæringsindsats end ved vilkårlige koblinger. Fundene giver et lovende udgangspunkt for at afdække, hvilke musikalske metaforer der skaber stærke signal‑referentrelationer, og for at forbedre designet af alarmer og auditiv feedback i brugergrænseflader.
In information-dense, cognitively demanding settings, rapid and accurate identification of auditory alarms and feedback is critical, yet abstract alarm sounds are often hard to learn. This thesis examines whether short melodic alarms composed using conceptual metaphors can make it easier to associate a sound with its meaning (the signal–referent relation). Building on prior work on alarm types and learnability, melodies were composed and selected, and a paired‑associate paradigm with nine signal–referent pairs was conducted. One condition used arbitrary mappings between sounds and labels; the other used meaningful, metaphorical mappings in which the melody semantically fit the alarm’s function. The results suggest that when melodic alarms are semantically aligned with their label/function, the typical learnability deficit of abstract sounds can be largely overcome, yielding better identification and reduced learning effort compared to arbitrary mappings. These findings provide a promising basis for identifying which musical metaphors create strong signal–referent relations and for improving the design of alarms and auditory feedback in user interfaces.
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