Warnings consisting of familiar environmental sounds, or auditory icons, have the potential to facilitate identification and interpretation. This study examines the way in which the type and preexisting strength of association between an auditory icon and a warning event affects the ease with which the icon/event pairing can be learned and retained. In the study, 63 participants each learned 8 auditory icon/denotative-referent pairings and attempted to recall them 4 weeks later. Three icon/denotative-referent association types (direct, related and unrelated) were used. Participants rated the strength of the association for each pairing on a 7-point scale. Results showed that the number of errors made while learning pairings was greater for unrelated than for either related or direct associations. The number of errors made while attempting to recall pairings 4 weeks later was lower for direct associations than for both unrelated and related associations. Irrespective of association type, both learning and retention performance remained at very high levels provided the strength of the association was rated greater than five. These findings suggest that strong preexisting associations are used to facilitate learning and retention of auditory icon/denotative-referent pairings.
Abstract