Improving an already-clear SNR does not motivate people to seek hearing treatment

Evidence

The results are shown in the right panel of Fig. 3 . They were similar to the swap experiment (left panel of same figure), though there was a greater tendency towards not attending the clinic compared to not swapping devices at the lowest, sub-JND ΔSNRs. For the ‑6 dB SNR reference condition, the mean proportion of yes responses only exceeded chance at 6 and 8 dB SNR. For the + 6 dB SNR reference condition, mean responses never significantly exceeded chance; furthermore, the function appears asymptotic, so the responses may not have exceeded chance regardless of the change in SNR. If the SNR is already relatively high enough to be clear, then making it clearer still does not appear to induce intervention-seeking behaviour. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5669

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The counterintuitive, paradigm-relevant finding: beyond a clarity threshold, further SNR gains produce no additional intervention motivation — a ceiling on perceived meaningful benefit.