Quantifying the effects of background babble on preschool children’s novel word learning in a multi-session paradigm

Abstract

Common daily environments often contain background noise, such as background talkers, that may impose challenges on auditory based learning, including the learning of new words. Extant data on the effects of background noise on novel word learning, however, have shown mixed results. One possible reason for this observation is that most studies assess the effect of background noise in a single session. The present study aimed to add to this body of work by employing a multi-session paradigm to explore the effects of background babble, presented at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio, on novel word learning in 3-year-old children (n = 8). Children were exposed to two stories presented digitally, each story containing four novel CVC words. Children were exposed to both stories, one in quiet and one in the presence of four-talker babble. After each story, receptive word learning was quantified with a four-alternative-forced-choice task, and expressive word learning was quantified by the number of novel labels correctly produced when their corresponding objects were shown to the children. Results suggested that children’s receptive and expressive word learning improved by session; however, greater improvement was observed for the words exposed in quiet. The results and their implications will be further discussed.