Exploring attentive listening in noise through the just-follow conversation task

Abstract

Listening to a conversation demands comprehension, attention and prediction. To better understand the impact of these demands, as well as how hearing aids might alleviate them, a conversational listening test should be realistic, repeatable and relatable (i.e., have interpretable units). A test that potentially satisfies these needs is the just-follow conversation (JFC) task, where the listener adjusts the signal level to where they can understand, with effort, the gist of what is being said in a background of noise. Fifty-four participants sat in the centre of a circular loudspeaker array and adjusted the overall level of one monologue, one dialogue, two monologues or two dialogues presented in the front hemifield to where they could just follow the speech four times per trial. Signals were presented in surrounding fixed-level café and same-spectrum noise backgrounds. Bilateral hearing-aid users adjusted aided and unaided; non-users repeated each condition to evaluate reliability. Results showed an increase in JFC for dialogues re monologues. Individual JFC SNRs correlated with SSQ12 speech subscale scores as well as pure-tone threshold averages. JFC reliability was comparable to more objective speech understanding measures, but it may not be suitable to capture perceived conversational benefits for more subtle changes in hearing-aid processing. [Work supported by the UK Medical Research Council Grant No. MR/X003620/1 & WS Audiology.]