Sighted listeners become ‘deaf’ to program-dependent sound differences

Evidence

It is normal to expect an interaction between the preference ratings and individual programs. In Figure 10.3 this is seen in the results of the blind tests, where the data have been arranged to show declining scores for programs toward the right of the figure. In the sighted versions of the tests, there are no changes, all programs yielded the same ratings. Again, it seems that the listeners had their minds made up by what they saw and were not in a mood to change, even if the sound required it. In a special way they went “deaf”. The effect is not subtle. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1061

Categorization

• CANDY: The phrase ‘in a special way they went deaf’ plus ‘the effect is not subtle’ is a striking, tweetable summary of how vision overrides hearing.