Valence perception is hearing-loss independent while arousal perception depends on amplification.

Evidence

For valence, a significant simple effect of mean F0 (β = ‑4.813 × 10‑3 , SE = 8.856 × 10‑4 , p < 0.001) was found: higher pitch was associated with lower ratings, i.e., more negative ratings. None of the other acoustic parameters was predictive of the valence ratings. Moreover, importantly, no effects for listening condition and hearing loss were observed: valence ratings were independent of whether the participants wore their hearing aids or not and were independent of individual hearing loss. … For valence, similar to the previous analysis, mean F0 was associated with lower valence ratings (β = ‑4.602 × 10‑3 , SE = 1.168 × 10‑3 , p < 0.01). No other acoustic parameters were predictive of the valence ratings. There was no effect of group, nor any interactions between group and the acoustic parameters. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1368

Categorization

• QUESTION: What neural or perceptual mechanism makes valence robust to hearing loss while arousal is degraded? Dissociation between the two affect dimensions is a strong finding worth chasing.
• XREF: Relates to psychoacoustic finding that F0 (pitch) carries valence while intensity carries arousal — classic emotional prosody substrate.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1368