{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125562"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125562","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"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","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-02-04 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-02-04 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Murgia, Silvia"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Speech & Hearing Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bottalico, Pasquale","Flaherty, Mary","Fogerty, Dan","Federmeier, Kara"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-07-10","date_published":"2024-07-10","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z","subjects":["Listening Comprehension","Background Noise","Dysphonia","Children","Listening Effort","Eeg"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2024 Silvia Murgia"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125562","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bottalico, Pasquale","Flaherty, Mary","Fogerty, Dan","Federmeier, Kara"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Murgia, Silvia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2024-07-10","2024-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Speech & Hearing Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Listening Comprehension","Background Noise","Dysphonia","Children","Listening Effort","Eeg"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2024 Silvia Murgia"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125562"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-02-04 without embargo terms","The student, Silvia Murgia, accepted the attached license on 2024-07-03 at 17:05.","The student, Silvia Murgia, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-07-03 at 17:16.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-07-10 at 21:05.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #20934 on 2025-02-04 at 21:04:13","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."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["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"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bottalico, Pasquale","Flaherty, Mary","Fogerty, Dan","Federmeier, Kara"],"dc:creator":["Murgia, Silvia"],"dc:date":["2024-07-10","2024-08"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-02-04 without embargo terms","The student, Silvia Murgia, accepted the attached license on 2024-07-03 at 17:05.","The student, Silvia Murgia, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-07-03 at 17:16.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-07-10 at 21:05.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #20934 on 2025-02-04 at 21:04:13","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."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125562"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2024 Silvia Murgia"],"dc:subject":["Listening Comprehension","Background Noise","Dysphonia","Children","Listening Effort","Eeg"],"dc:title":["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"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Speech & Hearing Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z"}