Contribution of listening effort and cognitive processing to psychometric functions during adolescence and young adulthood

Abstract

Hearing and listening are critical to how adolescents communicate, learn new information, and engage with technology and culture. However, performance on auditory perceptual tasks takes a long time to mature. Age-related improvements in executive functions and other cognitive functions likely contribute to this long developmental trajectory. To examine how listening effort and cognition relate to psychometric functions on auditory perceptual tasks in adolescents and young adults, we used the method of constant stimuli to test 10- to 23-year-olds on frequency discrimination, temporal interval discrimination, and gap detection. During task performance, an eye tracker was used to measure pupil size and blink rate as proxies for listening effort or engagement. Typically, larger pupil size and fewer blinks are associated with higher engagement. All listeners also completed a battery of cognitive tests including tests of verbal and nonverbal reasoning, working memory, processing speed, and attention. We will demonstrate any changes in the estimated thresholds and psychometric function slopes during adolescence and will relate these developmental changes to individual differences in listening effort and cognition. [Work funded by NIDCD.]