Differences in temporary threshold shift in young adults with pleasant and unpleasant music

Twenty subjects, ages twenty-one to thirty-six years of age with normal hearing participated in this study. The effect of unpleasant and pleasant music on temporary threshold shift (TTS) was investigated. Subjects were exposed to music played forward as pleasant music and backward as unpleasant music at an equivalent sound pressure level (Leg) of 93 dB/A for twenty minutes during two separate test sessions. Each subject's hearing was measured before exposure to the music to obtain baseline measure and two minutes afterward with each condition for a measure of TTS.

The research hypothesis stated that there would be significantly more TTS with the unpleasant (backward) music than with the pleasant (forward) music. Statistical analysis of the data with the three way ANOVA revealed that the type of music caused the main effect of the differences in TTS. A post hoc Tukey test revealed no significant differences in TTS between the backward and forward exposure or the forward and control group. The only significant difference in TTS at the 5 percent confidence level was between the control group and the backward exposure group.