Measuring listeners’ distraction to spatially presented masking noise conditions

Abstract

This study investigates listeners' biological responses to speech under different masking noise conditions during a spatial selective attention task. Ten participants with normal hearing took part in the experiment which measured both behavioral and biological responses during a speech identification task with varying noise streams. The target speech stream was played through a front-left speaker, while masking noise, consisting of music and non-intelligent speech, was presented through either the front-right or back-center speaker. Behavioral performance was assessed based on the correct answer ratio, while biological responses were analyzed using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) for four distinct conditions. These conditions included two Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNRs) and two spatial positions of the masking noise stream. Using an EEG measurement headset with dry electrodes, the study collected neural responses from the participants and calculated the ERPs for each of the four conditions. After excluding one outlier, the ANOVA result revealed a difference (F(1, 3.5), p = 0.0984) in this listener group's ERP response between the two masker positions, with a lower mean peak value observed for the rear masker. This finding suggests that they were less influenced by the rear-located masking noise.