Recall of words heard in noise

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore if recall of words and recognition of sentences orally presented was affected by a background noise. A further aim was to investigate the role of working memory capacity in performance in these conditions. Thirty-two subjects performed a word recall and a sentence recognition test. They repeated each word to ensure that they had heard them. A reading span test measured their working memory capacity. Performance on the word recall task was impaired by the background noise. A high reading span score was associated with a smaller noise effect, especially on recall of the last part of the word list.The effects of noise on memory, learning and other cognitive functions have been widely researched (see e.g. reviews by Jones, 1990 andSmith, 1989). With few exceptions this research has used written texts or other visual material. Very little has been done concerning cognitive effects of noise on speech communication, except for studies on speech intelligibility, usually expressed as a percentage of words or sentences correctly identified by a listener (for a review see e.g. Kryter, 1994). The obvious reason for using text based tasks in studies of other cognitive functions is that impaired performance in noise could otherwise be an effect of noise making it impossible to hear parts of what is said. However, efficient speech communication requires further processing and it seems likely that noise may affect speech communication even when the noise allows identification of the words spoken. In addition to identifying the words spoken the listener must be able to integrate the current information with information that has recently been processed as well as with stored information. Furthermore, to be able to use the information it must be transferred to a more permanent store. Processing speech in unfavourable listening conditions, for example, with a high background noise, may require a listener to consider more alternative interpretations of the speech stimuli and speech understanding may rely more on stored information for successful performance than in good listening conditions. The perceptual coding of the speech signal, which in good listening conditions is largely automatic, becomes more of a controlled resource-demanding process. Under such conditions the identification of the spoken words thus places higher demands on the limited cognitive processing resources. If so, a background noise could leave fewer resources for the further processing of the speech. Understanding and memory of spoken information then may be impaired by the unfavourable listening conditions even APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Classroom acoustics and hearing ability as determinants for perceived social climate and intentions to stay at work

“…Therefore, our results extend beyond the known and immediate problems associated with deprived acoustical conditions, for example, annoyance reactions, communicative interference, reduction of speech intelligibility, and memory consolidation of information. [1,2,4] Importantly, however, it should be noted that our study was not designed to disclose to what extent the effect of RT on the social climate and intention to stay on the job was mediated by immediate phenomena such as annoyance reactions, communicative interference, speech intelligibility, memory consolidation or actual sound levels in the classroom. Yet, it seems plausible that one, or many, of these known acoustically dependent phenomena in various ways may serve to affect feelings of comfort and social relations and therefore in extension influence the perception of the social climate and ones intentions to stay on the job.…”

“…However, both cognitions and oral communication are known to be sensitive to interference from background noise and the quality of room acoustics. [1,2] For example, reverberating rooms and high background noise have been shown to reduce the intelligibility of speech and interfere with the phonological processing of speech, thus impairing memory consolidation of the information. [1][2][3][4] In addition, classrooms with very long reverberation times (RT) (1.0 s or more) have been reported to be associated with less positive student evaluations of social relationships with peers and teachers.…”

“…[1,2] For example, reverberating rooms and high background noise have been shown to reduce the intelligibility of speech and interfere with the phonological processing of speech, thus impairing memory consolidation of the information. [1][2][3][4] In addition, classrooms with very long reverberation times (RT) (1.0 s or more) have been reported to be associated with less positive student evaluations of social relationships with peers and teachers. [5] Likewise it was recently observed that noise in classrooms with RT in the range between 0.7 and 0.9 s impeded students' conversational interactions and collaborative learning.…”

Noise and stress effects on preschool personnel

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Reverberation limits the release from informational masking obtained in the harmonic and binaural domains

“…Working memory must presumably have a limited processing capacity: the more resources are allocated to word identification, the fewer resources are left for storage. For instance, Kjellberg et al (2008) presented orally 50 one-syllable words to listeners either in quiet or in a background noise. Words were separated by 3 or 4 seconds, during which listeners were asked to repeat aloud each word to check for their intelligibility.…”