Exploring the impact of dysphonia and background noise on elementary school children's listening comprehension and cognitive effort: a study of subjective and objective measures

This study aims to evaluate the impact of background noise and a dysphonic voice on elementary school students' listening comprehension and listening effort. Listening comprehension is essential for academic success, and this research seeks to determine how background noise and voice quality affect students' ability to understand speech in the classroom and the cognitive resources required for this task. The experimental speech material was recorded by a female actor who simulated both a normal and a dysphonic voice. The Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG-2) was administered to assess listening comprehension. Twenty-four children, aged 8 to 12, performed the test on a computer in a controlled laboratory setting. A talkbox played the stimuli while two loudspeakers placed behind the children introduced classroom noise. Listening effort was assessed using both subjective and objective measures. Subjective effort was rated on a 5-point visual analog scale after each trial. Objective effort was measured by response time and electroencephalography (EEG). Response time was recorded as the duration required to select a figure after it appeared on the screen. The event-related spectral perturbation of theta and alpha oscillations was measured to assess differences between baseline and each trial, as these oscillations are linked to attention and memory-related processing and suppression of irrelevant stimuli. Additionally, executive function (working memory, attention, and inhibitory control) was evaluated to account for individual differences. The results illustrate that adverse auditory conditions significantly impact children's comprehension of spoken language and necessitate increased cognitive resources. Both subjective and objective measures, including EEG data, indicate that background noise and especially dysphonic voices markedly degrade listening comprehension, supporting the hypothesis that such conditions require more cognitive effort. The study highlights the critical role of executive functions, such as working memory and attention, in managing listening effort. Finally, older children showed better comprehension and faster processing in challenging auditory environments, suggesting that cognitive abilities improve with age, enhancing resilience to auditory challenges. These findings underscore the critical impact of background noise and voice quality on children's auditory processing abilities. Enhancing classroom acoustics and addressing vocal health in teachers are essential for optimizing students' learning environments.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Speech & Hearing Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Murgia, Silvia

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bottalico, Pasquale
• Flaherty, Mary
• Fogerty, Dan
• Federmeier, Kara

• Listening Comprehension
• Background Noise
• Dysphonia
• Children
• Listening Effort
• Eeg

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Silvia Murgia

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125562

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F125562