Abstract
When comprehending speech-in-noise (SiN), younger and older adults benefit from seeing the speaker’s mouth, i.e. visible speech. Younger adults additionally benefit from manual iconic co-speech gestures. Here, we investigate to what extent younger and older adults benefit from perceiving both visual articulators while comprehending SiN, and whether this is modulated by working memory and inhibitory control. Twenty-eight younger and 28 older adults performed a word recognition task in three visual contexts: mouth blurred (speech-only), visible speech, or visible speech + iconic gesture. The speech signal was either clear or embedded in multitalker babble. Additionally, there were two visual-only conditions (visible speech, visible speech + gesture). Accuracy levels for both age groups were higher when both visual articulators were present compared to either one or none. However, older adults received a significantly smaller benefit than younger adults, although they performed equally well in speech-only and visual-only word recognition. Individual differences in verbal working memory and inhibitory control partly accounted for age-related performance differences. To conclude, perceiving iconic gestures in addition to visible speech improves younger and older adults’ comprehension of SiN. Yet, the ability to benefit from this additional visual information is modulated by age and verbal working memory. Future research will have to show whether these findings extend beyond the single word level.
Highlights
In every-day listening situations, we frequently encounter speech embedded in noise, such as the sound of cars, music, or other people talking
Analyses were conducted in two steps: first, we evaluated only the experimental predictor variables, their interactions, and the mean-centered pure-tone averages (PTA) as a covariate, applying a backwards model-stripping procedure to arrive at the best-fitting models
The present study provides novel evidence that younger and older adults benefit from visible speech and iconic cospeech gestures to varying degrees when comprehending speech-in-noise (SiN)
Summary
In every-day listening situations, we frequently encounter speech embedded in noise, such as the sound of cars, music, or other people talking. In investigating this question, we consider whether hearing loss and differences in cognitive abilities play a role in this process. We consider whether hearing loss and differences in cognitive abilities play a role in this process Both factors have been associated with the disproportionate disadvantage older adults experience due to background noises
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