Differential mechanisms of cognitive impairment due to task-irrelevant sounds in children and adults
Acoustics
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Final Report Abstract
In a joint project of Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Acoustics, the effects of task‐irrelevant sounds on performance in working memory tasks were explored in children and adults. Through sys‐ tematic variation of sound characteristics and task requirements, we tested the predictions derived from cur‐ rent accounts of noise‐induced performance decrements, i.e., the Attention‐capture Account and the Chang‐ ing‐state Account. According to the latter, the reliable disruption of serial recall performance due to changing‐state irrelevant sounds results from specific interference between order cues derived from automatic, obligatory sound processing, and deliberate rehearsal of the serial order of the list items. In addition, the project aimed at comparing the effects of simple, monaural‐diotic presentation vs. realistic, binaural presentation of task‐irrelevant sound scenarios. Contrasting the predictions of the Changing‐state Account, the current experiments consistently showed that serial order retention is neither necessary nor sufficient for evocation of a disruption by changing‐state speech. Rather, the disruptive effect of background speech seems to be confined to tasks that require storage and/or processing of phonological information. These conclusions are based on the following findings: A serial nonverbal task (serial recall of visuo‐spatial items) was immune against a disruption through irrelevant speech (changing‐state syllables), whereas phonological tasks with and without seriation (serial recall of words presented pictorially and classification of the words´ initial sounds, respectively) were significantly and equally disrupted. An analogue of the non‐serial task which required a semantic instead of a phonological classification remained unaffected. Concerning the verbal serial recall task, a reduction of rehearsal by means of rapid item presentation did not reduce the disruptive effect of the syllable sequences. The task specificity of the disruption evoked by irrelevant speech poses difficulties not only for the Changing‐state Account, but also for the Attention‐capture Account. Further findings yielded additional problems for the latter. First, the disruptive effects were unrelated to the participants´ attention control (measured by working memory capacity), second, meaningful nonspeech sounds (mixtures of environmental sounds such as telephone ringing, dog barking; office‐noise scenarios) did not impair verbal serial recall in children and adults, and third, the disruptive effect of classroom‐ and office‐noise scenarios with speech did not increase when a realistic, binaural presentation was used instead of simple, monaural‐diotic presentation. Taken together, the current results suggest that the reliable disruption evoked by irrelevant sounds with spoken parts results from specific interference with the storage and/or processing of phonological information in working memory.
Publications
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Background speech interferes with verbal short‐term memory: On the differential influence of speech‐like quality (Sinewave Speech) and phono‐ logical content. 62th Conference of Experimental Psychologists (TeaP), Jena, Deutschland
Georgi, M., Leist, L., Klatte, M. & Schlittmeier, S.
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Auditory streaming and short‐term memory: Ef‐ fects of talker variability on serial recall and auditory distraction. Psycholinguistics in Flanders (PiF), Kai‐ serslautern, Germany
Jelelati, A., Leist, L., Lachmann, T. & Klatte, M.
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Differential effects of irrelevant speech and environmental sounds on short‐term memory in children and adults. 13th ICBEN Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem, Stockholm, Schweden
Leist, L., Lachmann, T. & Klatte, M.
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Phonologically reduced speech sounds inter‐ fere with verbal but not with phonological short‐term memory: Further support for the phonological‐ interference hypothesis. 63th Conference of Experimental Psychologists (TeaP), Ulm, Deutschland
Georgi, M., Leist, L., Klatte, M. & Schlittmeier, S.
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Sound in occupied open-plan offices: Objective metrics with a review of historical perspectives. Applied Acoustics, 177, 107943.
Yadav, Manuj; Cabrera, Densil; Kim, Jungsoo; Fels, Janina & de, Dear Richard
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Effects of irrelevant speech and word length on immediate serial recall: What role of rehearsal? 64th Conference of Experimental Psychologists (TeaP), Köln, Germany
Jelelati, A., Leist, L., Lachmann, T. & Klatte, M.
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Investigating the Disturbance Impact of Background Speech on Verbal and Visual-Spatial Short-Term Memory: On the Differential Contributions of Changing-State and Phonology to the Irrelevant Sound Effect. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 6(1-2), 52-71.
Georgi, Markus; Leist, Larissa; Klatte, Maria & Schlittmeier, Sabine J.
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Irrelevant speech impairs serial recall of verbal but not spatial items in children and adults. Memory & Cognition, 51(2), 307-320.
Leist, Larissa; Lachmann, Thomas; Schlittmeier, Sabine J.; Georgi, Markus & Klatte, Maria
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Studying the effect of in‐ creased plausibility of open‐plan office noise simulation on auditory distraction. 24th International Con‐ gress on Acoustics (ICA), Gyeongju, Korea
Yadav, M., Georgi, M., Leist, L., Klatte, M., Schlittmeier, S. & Fels, J.
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Toward Child-Appropriate Acoustic Measurement Methods in Primary Schools and Daycare Centers. Frontiers in Built Environment, 8.
Loh, Karin; Yadav, Manuj; Persson, Waye Kerstin; Klatte, Maria & Fels, Janina
