The Role of Talker Familiarity in Auditory 					Distraction

Abstract. The current research employed a classic irrelevant sound effect paradigm and investigated the talker-specific content of the irrelevant speech. Specifically, we aimed to determine if the participants’ familiarity with the irrelevant speech’s talker affected the magnitude of the irrelevant sound effect. Experiment 1 was an exploration of talker familiarity established in a natural listening environment (i.e., a university classroom) in which we manipulated the participants’ relationships with the talker. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the participants’ familiarity with the talker via 4 days of controlled exposure to the target talker’s audio recordings. For both Experiments 1 and 2, a robust effect of irrelevant speech was found; however, regardless of the talker manipulation, talker familiarity did not influence the size of the effect. We interpreted the results within the processing view of the auditory distraction effect and highlighted the notion that talker familiarity may be more vulnerable than once thought.

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The role of talker familiarity in auditory distraction

10.31235/osf.io/z9xys ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Brittan Ann Barker ◽

Emily M. Elliott

Keyword(s):

Irrelevant Speech ◽

Auditory Distraction ◽

Sound Effect ◽

Distraction Effect ◽

Specific Content ◽

Irrelevant Sound ◽

Irrelevant Sound Effect ◽

Audio Recordings ◽

Controlled Exposure ◽

Talker Familiarity

The current research employed a classic irrelevant sound effect paradigm and investigated the talker-specific content of the irrelevant speech. Specifically, we aimed to determine if the participants’ familiarity with the irrelevant speech’s talker affected the magnitude of the irrelevant sound effect. Experiment 1was an exploration of talker familiarity established in a natural listening environment(i.e. a university classroom)in which we manipulated the participants’ relationships with the talker. In Experiment 2 we manipulated the participants’ familiarity with the talker via 4 days of controlled exposure to the target talker’s audio recordings. For both Experiments1 and 2, a robust effect of irrelevant speech was found; however, regardless of the talker manipulation, talker familiarity did not influence the size of the effect. We interpreted the results within the processing view of the auditory distraction effect and highlighted the notion that talker familiarity may be more vulnerable than once thought.

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Age differences in the irrelevant sound effect: A serial recognition paradigm

Psihologija ◽

10.2298/psi1501035s ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 35-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Helene Schwarz ◽

Sabine Schlittmeier ◽

Annette Otto ◽

Malte Persike ◽

Maria Klatte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Short Term Memory ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Auditory Distraction ◽

Short Term ◽

Sound Effect ◽

Term Memory ◽

Irrelevant Sound ◽

State Effect ◽

Irrelevant Sound Effect

In adults, the disrupting effect of irrelevant background sounds with distinct temporalspectral variations (changing-state sounds) on short-term memory performance was found to be robust. In the present study, a verbal serial recognition task was used to investigate this so-called Irrelevant Sound Effect (ISE) in adults and 8- to 10-year-old children. An essential part of the short-term memory impairment during changing-state speech is due to interference processes (changing-state effect) which can be differentiated from the deviation effect of auditory distraction. In line with recent findings (Hughes et al., 2013), our study demonstrates that the changing-state effect is not modulated by task difficulty. Moreover, our results show that the changing-state effect remains stable for children and adults. This suggests that the differences in the magnitude of the ISE as reported by Elliott (2002) and Klatte et al. (2010) are most likely related to the increase in attentional control during childhood.

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