Impact of noise, dysphonia, and cognitive functions on speech perception in children

Abstract

This study explores the detrimental effects of classroom noise and teacher dysphonia on children's speech understanding and teacher voice quality. It also investigates their impact on cognitive functions such as attention and working memory, as well as the subjective and objective measures of listening effort. Participants were 26 children aged 8–12. Results indicate that word recognition was primarily affected by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), with lower SNRs leading to decreased accuracy. However, listening comprehension scores were significantly influenced by both SNR and voice quality, especially when the lowest SNR combined with a dysphonic voice resulted in a significant decrease in accuracy. Higher working memory was associated with better comprehension performance. Subjective listening effort was higher when noise and dysphonia were present, with greater selective attention linked to lower perceived effort. Response times also showed that children took more time to respond in lower SNR conditions and when the speech was dysphonic, although higher selective attention led to shorter response times. In conclusion, noise primarily impacted word recognition, while dysphonia exacerbated listening comprehension. However, both factors increased perceived listening effort. These findings suggest that assessing word recognition alone may underestimate the impact of poor voice quality in noisy environments.