scholarly journals Listener characteristics differentially affect self-reported and physiological measures of effort associated with two challenging listening conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander L. Francis ◽  
Tessa Bent ◽  
Jennifer Schumaker ◽  
Jordan Love ◽  
Noah Silbert
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Affective Response ◽  
Cardiovascular Responses ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Story Comprehension ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Accented English

AbstractListeners vary in their ability to understand speech in adverse conditions. Differences in both cognitive and linguistic capacities play a role, but increasing evidence suggests that such factors may contribute differentially depending on the listening challenge. Here, we used multilevel modeling to evaluate contributions of individual differences in age, hearing thresholds, vocabulary, selective attention, working memory capacity, personality traits, and noise sensitivity to variability in measures of comprehension and listening effort in two listening conditions. A total of 35 participants completed a battery of cognitive and linguistic tests as well as a spoken story comprehension task using (1) native-accented English speech masked by speech-shaped noise and (2) nonnative accented English speech without masking. Masker levels were adjusted individually to ensure each participant would show (close to) equivalent word recognition performance across the two conditions. Dependent measures included comprehension tests results, self-rated effort, and electrodermal, cardiovascular, and facial electromyographic measures associated with listening effort. Results showed varied patterns of responsivity across different dependent measures as well as across listening conditions. In particular, results suggested that working memory capacity may play a greater role in the comprehension of nonnative accented speech than noise-masked speech, while hearing acuity and personality may have a stronger influence on physiological responses affected by demands of understanding speech in noise. Furthermore, electrodermal measures may be more strongly affected by affective response to noise-related interference while cardiovascular responses may be more strongly affected by demands on working memory and lexical access.

Listening Effort in Cochlear Implant Users: The Effect of Speech Intelligibility, Noise Reduction Processing, and Working Memory Capacity on the Pupil Dilation Response

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Gertjan Dingemanse ◽  
André Goedegebure
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Pupil Dilation ◽  
Peak Latency ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Speech Recognition In Noise

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of speech recognition performance, working memory capacity (WMC), and a noise reduction algorithm (NRA) on listening effort as measured with pupillometry in cochlear implant (CI) users while listening to speech in noise. Method: Speech recognition and pupil responses (peak dilation, peak latency, and release of dilation) were measured during a speech recognition task at three speech-to-noise ratios (SNRs) with an NRA in both on and off conditions. WMC was measured with a reading span task. Twenty experienced CI users participated in this study. Results: With increasing SNR and speech recognition performance, (a) the peak pupil dilation decreased by only a small amount, (b) the peak latency decreased, and (c) the release of dilation after the sentences increased. The NRA had no effect on speech recognition in noise or on the peak or latency values of the pupil response but caused less release of dilation after the end of the sentences. A lower reading span score was associated with higher peak pupil dilation but was not associated with peak latency, release of dilation, or speech recognition in noise. Conclusions: In CI users, speech perception is effortful, even at higher speech recognition scores and high SNRs, indicating that CI users are in a chronic state of increased effort in communication situations. The application of a clinically used NRA did not improve speech perception, nor did it reduce listening effort. Participants with a relatively low WMC exerted relatively more listening effort but did not have better speech reception thresholds in noise.

scholarly journals Listening Effort Measured in Adults with Normal Hearing and Cochlear Implants

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (08) ◽  
pp. 685-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann E. Perreau ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Wu ◽  
Bailey Tatge ◽  
Diana Irwin ◽  
Daniel Corts
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Significant Difference

AbstractStudies have examined listening effort in individuals with hearing loss to determine the extent of the impairment. Regarding cochlear implants (CIs), results suggest that listening effort is improved using bilateral CIs compared to unilateral CIs. Few studies have investigated listening effort and outcomes related to the hybrid CI.Here, we compared listening effort across three CI groups, and to a normal-hearing control group. The impact of listener traits, that is, age, age at onset of hearing loss, duration of CI use, and working memory capacity, were examined relative to listening effort.The participants completed a dual-task paradigm with a primary task identifying sentences in noise and a secondary task measuring reaction time on a Stroop test. Performance was assessed for all participant groups at different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), ranging in 2-dB steps from 0 to +10 dB relative to an individual’s SNR-50, at which the speech recognition performance is 50% correct. Participants completed three questions on listening effort, the Spatial Hearing Questionnaire, and a reading span test.All 46 participants were adults. The four participant groups included (1) 12 individuals with normal hearing, (2) 10 with unilateral CIs, (3) 12 with bilateral CIs, and (4) 12 with a hybrid short-electrode CI and bilateral residual hearing.Results from the dual-task experiment were compared using a mixed 4 (hearing group) by 6 (SNR condition) analysis of variance (ANOVA). Questionnaire results were compared using one-way ANOVAs, and correlations between listener traits and the objective and subjective measures were compared using Pearson correlation coefficients.Significant differences were found in speech perception among the normal-hearing and the unilateral and the bilateral CI groups. There was no difference in primary task performance among the hybrid CI and the normal-hearing groups. Across the six SNR conditions, listening effort improved to a greater degree for the normal-hearing group compared to the CI groups. However, there was no significant difference in listening effort between the CI groups. The subjective measures revealed significant differences between the normal-hearing and CI groups, but no difference among the three CI groups. Across all groups, age was significantly correlated with listening effort. We found no relationship between listening effort and the age at the onset of hearing loss, age at implantation, the duration of CI use, and working memory capacity for these participants.Listening effort was reduced to a greater degree for the normal-hearing group compared to the CI users. There was no significant difference in listening effort among the CI groups. For the CI users in this study, age was a significant factor with regard to listening effort, whereas other variables such as the duration of CI use and the age at the onset of hearing loss were not significantly related to listening effort.

The effects of training on automatization of word recognition in English as a foreign language

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
NOBUHIKO AKAMATSU
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Efl Learners

ABSTRACTThe present study investigated the effects of word-recognition training on the word-recognition processing of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Providing 7-week word-recognition training, the study examined whether such training improves EFL learners' word-recognition performance. The main aspects of this study concerned word frequency and working-memory capacity in automatization of word recognition. Analysis of variance and correlational analyses revealed qualitative differences in the improvement of EFL word-recognition performance with respect to word frequency. The improvement in the processing of high-frequency words was associated with simple speedup; conversely, the processing of low-frequency words was associated with automatization. Results also showed that working-memory capacity might not play a noticeable role in improving word-recognition speed or efficiency.

scholarly journals Noise increases listening effort in normal-hearing young adults, regardless of working memory capacity (preprint, Dec 2018)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Feld Strand
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
General Assumption ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
The Relationship

As listening conditions worsen (e.g., background noise increases), additional cognitive effort is required to process speech. The existing literature is mixed on whether and how cognitive traits like working memory capacity moderate the amount of effort that listeners must expend to successfully understand speech. Here, we validate a dual-task measure of listening effort (Experiment 1) and demonstrate that, for normal-hearing young adults, effort increases as listening conditions worsen, but working memory capacity is unrelated to the amount of effort expended (Experiment 2). We propose that previous research may have overestimated the relationship between listening effort and working memory capacity by measuring listening effort using recall-based tasks, but the relationship between the two disappears when using a measure of listening effort that does not require recall. These results suggest caution in making the general assumption that working memory capacity is related to the amount of effort expended during a listening task.

scholarly journals Listening effort and working memory capacity in hearing impaired individuals: an integrative literature review

Revista CEFAC ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 798-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Mochiatti Guijo ◽  
Mirella Boaglio Horiuti ◽  
Taina Maiza Bilinski Nardez ◽  
Ana Cláudia Vieira Cardoso
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Behavioral Method ◽  
Effort Assessment ◽  
Behavioral Methods

ABSTRACT Purpose: to review the literature on the behavioral methods of listening effort assessment and the working memory capacity recommended for the hearing impaired. Methods: this review was developed through the search of articles in national and international journals, in English and Portuguese, available in Pubmed/Medline, Cochrane Library, Biblioteca Vitual em Saúde - Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) and Scientific Electronic Library Online, between 2007 and 2017. The articles were selected based on the inclusion criteria: articles that used behavioral methods to assess listening effort in hearing-impaired adults, involving the measurement of working memory and its relationship with the listening effort, published in the last 10 years. Results: Twelve articles in which behavioral measures were used to measure listening effort and working memory capacity in the hearing-impaired individuals were reviewed. Their main findings refer to the purpose(s) of the research, participants, behavioral method composed of a primary task (speech perception) and a secondary task (memorization) and results of the studies. Conclusion:the findings of this review allow us to infer that this paradigm is sensitive to measure the listening effort, considering the different instruments used and the population assessed.

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