Cognitive Function Prediction of Performance During Dual-Tasks Across Adults With and Without Hearing Loss.

Background: Dual-task procedures are commonly implemented to examine cognitive load and listening effort as individual differences in cognition often determine successful listening. However, which methods are most efficacious is unclear. Specifically, standardized, targeted assessment procedures for establishing cognitive function, and age-related changes that might account for changes in dual-task performance have yet to be established.

Cognitive function predicts listening effort performance during complex tasks in normally aging adults.

Purpose: This study examines whether cognitive function, as measured by the subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson III (WCJ-III) assessment, predicts listening-effort performance during dual tasks across the adults of varying ages.

Materials And Methods: Participants were divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 14 listeners (number of females = 11) who were 41-61 years old [mean = 53.

The Effect of Hearing Loss on Novel Word Learning in Infant- and Adult-Directed Speech.

Objectives: Relatively little is known about how young children with hearing impairment (HI) learn novel words in infant- and adult-directed speech (ADS). Infant-directed speech (IDS) supports word learning in typically developing infants relative to ADS. This study examined how children with normal hearing (NH) and children with HI learn novel words in IDS and ADS.

Weighting of static and transition cues in voiceless fricatives and stops in children wearing cochlear implants.

Objectives: To determine how normal-hearing adults (NHA), normal-hearing children (NHC) and children wearing cochlear implants (CI) differ in the perceptual weight given cues for fricative consonants (having a comparatively long static cue and short transition cue) versus stop consonants (having a comparatively short static cue and long transition cue).

Methods: Ten NHA, eleven 5- to 8-year-old NHC and eight 5- to 8-year-old children wearing CI were participated. Fricative /su/-/∫u/ and stop /pu/-/tu/continua were constructed by varying the fricative/burst cue and the F2 onset transition cue.

Effects of sentence context on phonemic categorization of natural and synthetic consonant-vowel tokens.

The purpose was to assess if phonemic categorization in sentential context is best explained by autonomous feedforward processing or by top-down feedback processing that affects phonemic representation. 11 listeners with normal hearing, ages 20-50 years, were asked to label consonants in /pi/-/ti/ consonant-vowel (CV) stimuli in 9-step continua. One continuum was derived from natural tokens and the other was synthetically generated.

The effect of hearing loss on the perception of infant- and adult-directed speech.

Purpose: Infant-directed speech (IDS) facilitates language learning in infants with normal hearing, compared to adult-directed speech (ADS). It is well established that infants with normal hearing prefer to listen to IDS over ADS. The purpose of this study was to determine whether infants with hearing impairment (HI), like their NH peers, show a listening preference for IDS over ADS.

Weighting of cues for fricative place of articulation perception by children wearing cochlear implants.

Objective: To determine how children wearing cochlear implants weight cues for fricative perception compared to age-matched children with normal hearing.

Design: Two seven-step continua of synthetic CV syllables were constructed, with frication pole varied from /s/ to /ƒ/ within the continuum, and appropriate formant transition values varied across continua. Relative weights applied to the frication, transition, and interaction cues were determined.

A comparison of video versus conventional visual reinforcement in 7- to 16-month-old infants.

Purpose: To compare response patterns to video visual reinforcement audiometry (VVRA) and conventional visual reinforcement audiometry (CVRA) in infants 7-16 months of age.

Method: Fourteen normal-hearing infants aged 7-16 months (8 male, 6 female) participated. A repeated measures design was used.

The acceptance of background noise in adult cochlear implant users.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine (a) if acceptable noise levels (ANLs) are different in cochlear implant (CI) users than in listeners with normal hearing, (b) if ANLs are related to sentence reception thresholds in noise in CI users, and (c) if ANLs and subjective outcome measures are related in CI users.

Method: ANLs and the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT; M. Nilsson, S.

Frame dominance in infants with hearing loss.

Purpose: According to the frames then content (f/c) hypothesis (P. F. MacNeilage & B.

Acceptance of background noise levels in bilingual (Korean-English) listeners.

The acceptable noise level (ANL) is the maximum amount of background noise that listeners are willing to accept while listening to speech. ANL has not been studied in listeners who use languages other than English. The purpose of this study was to explore whether ANLs obtained from Korean listeners in both English and Korean were comparable to ANLs obtained from monolingual English listeners.

Auditory sensitivity and the prelinguistic vocalizations of early-amplified infants.

Purpose: Vocalization development has not been studied thoroughly in infants with early-identified hearing loss who receive hearing aids in the 1st year of life. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between auditory sensitivity and prelinguistic vocalization patterns in infants during the babbling stage.

Method: Spontaneous vocalizations of 15 early-identified infants with varying degrees of hearing sensitivity, from normal to profound hearing loss, were audiotaped and perceptually transcribed.

Reception thresholds for sentences in bilingual (Spanish/English) and monolingual (English) listeners.

Recent evidence on the perceptual performance of bilingual listeners suggests that a nonaudibility-based cost exists in processing a second language. That is, when compared to monolingual English speakers and early bilinguals, listeners who acquired English as a second language after puberty show reduced performance when listening to the second language in background noise, despite normal auditory thresholds. However, past studies have not controlled for the homogeneity of the bilingual participants used in auditory research; therefore, it is unknown whether the deficit observed in bilingual function is due to a lack of control for language-related variables.

Understanding bilingualism and its impact on speech audiometry.

This tutorial provides a review of auditory research conducted with monolingual and bilingual speakers of Spanish and English. Based on a functional view of bilingualism and on auditory research findings showing that the bilingual experience may affect the outcome of auditory research, we discuss methods for improving descriptions of linguistically diverse research participants. The review delves into how the bilingual experience can affect auditory research outcomes and discusses ways in which experimental design can be adjusted when bilingual or monolingual participants are used for research needs.