| 31. |
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| 32. |
- Hurtig, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Children's recall of words spoken in their first and second language : Effects of Signal-to-Noise Ratio and Reverberation Time
- 2016
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 6:JAN
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Speech perception runs smoothly and automatically when there is silence in the background, but when the speech signal is degraded by background noise or by reverberation, effortful cognitive processing is needed to compensate for the signal distortion. Previous research has typically investigated the effects of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reverberation time in isolation, whilst few have looked at their interaction. In this study, we probed how reverberation time and SNR influence recall of words presented in participants' first- (L1) and second-language (L2). A total of 72 children (10 years old) participated in this study. The to-be-recalled wordlists were played back with two different reverberation times (0.3 and 1.2 s) crossed with two different SNRs (+3 dBA and +12 dBA). Children recalled fewer words when the spoken words were presented in L2 in comparison with recall of spoken words presented in L1. Words that were presented with a high SNR (+12 dBA) improved recall compared to a low SNR (+3 dBA). Reverberation time interacted with SNR to the effect that at +12 dB the shorter reverberation time improved recall, but at +3 dB it impaired recall. The effects of the physical sound variables (SNR and reverberation time) did not interact with language. © 2016 Hurtig, Keus van de Poll, Pekkola, Hygge, Ljung and Sörqvist.
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| 33. |
- Hurtig, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Student's second-language grade may depend on classroom listening position
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this experiment was to explore whether listening positions (close or distant location from the sound source) in the classroom, and classroom reverberation, influence students’ score on a test for second-language (L2) listening comprehension (i.e., comprehension of English in Swedish speaking participants). The listening comprehension test administered was part of a standardized national test of English used in the Swedish school system. A total of 125 high school pupils, 15 years old, participated. Listening position was manipulated within subjects, classroom reverberation between subjects. The results showed that L2 listening comprehension decreased as distance from the sound source increased. The effect of reverberation was qualified by the participants’ baseline L2 proficiency. A shorter reverberation was beneficial to participants with high L2 proficiency, while the opposite pattern was found among the participants with low L2 proficiency. The results indicate that listening comprehension scores—and hence students’ grade in English—may depend on students’ classroom listening position.
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| 34. |
- Hygge, Staffan, 1944-, et al.
(författare)
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Acoustical conditions in the classroom II : Recall of spoken words in English and Swedish heard at different signal-to-noise ratios
- 2013
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Ingår i: 42nd International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering 2013, INTER-NOISE 2013: Noise Control for Quality of Life. ; , s. 5091-5098
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- An experiment will be reported which assessed speech intelligibility and free recall of spoken words in Swedish (native tongue) and in English heard under different signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios (+3 and +12 dB), and with/without the spoken words being repeated back orally directly after presentation (shadowing). All participants encountered all experimental conditions. Twelve wordlists with 12 words each were generated in English as well as in Swedish. The words were chosen according to their ranks in category norms for the two languages, and no category was the same for the two languages. Blocks of counter balanced presentation orders, S/N-ratios and shadowing/no shadowing were generated. After each wordlist the participants wrote down the words they could recall. Pre-experimental measures of working memory capacity were taken. The basic hypotheses for the recall of the words were that working memory would be overloaded when the S/N-ratio was low, there was no shadowing and when the language was English. A low score on working memory capacity was expected to further enhance these effects. While writing this abstract data collection is still in progress but results will be presented at the conference.
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Jahncke, Helena, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Office noise : can headphones and masking sound attenuate distraction by background speech?
- 2016
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Ingår i: Work. - 1051-9815 .- 1875-9270. ; 55:3, s. 505-513
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Background speech is one of the most disturbing noise sources at shared workplaces in terms of both annoyance and performance-related disruption. Therefore, it is important to identify techniques that can efficiently protect performance against distraction. It is also important that the techniques are perceived as satisfactory and are subjectively evaluated as effective in their capacity to reduce distraction.OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to compare three methods of attenuating distraction from background speech: masking a background voice with nature sound through headphones, masking a background voice with other voices through headphones and merely wearing headphones (without masking) as a way to attenuate the background sound. Quiet was deployed as a baseline condition.METHODS: Thirty students participated in an experiment employing a repeated measures design.RESULTS: Performance (serial short-term memory) was impaired by background speech (1 voice), but this impairment was attenuated when the speech was masked – and in particular when it was masked by nature sound. Furthermore, perceived workload was lowest in the quiet condition and significantly higher in all other sound conditions. Notably, the headphones tested as a sound-attenuating device (i.e. without masking) did not protect against the effects of background speech on performance and subjective work load.CONCLUSIONS: Nature sound was the only masking condition that worked as a protector of performance, at least in the context of the serial recall task. However, despite the attenuation of distraction by nature sound, perceived workload was still high – suggesting that it is difficult to find a masker that is both effective and perceived as satisfactory.
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| 38. |
- Joseph, Tanya, et al.
(författare)
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Differences in auditory distraction between adults and children : A duplex-mechanism approach
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Cognition. - : Ubiquity Press. - 2514-4820. ; 1:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Differences in the impact of irrelevant sound on recall performance in children (aged 7-9 years old; N = 89) compared to adults (aged 18-22 years old; N = 89) were examined. Tasks that required serial rehearsal (serial and probed-order recall tasks) were contrasted with one that did not (the missing-item task) in the presence of irrelevant sound that was either steady-state (a repeated speech token), changing-state (two alternating speech tokens) and, for the first time with a child sample, could also contain a deviant token (a male-voice token embedded in a sequence otherwise spoken in a female voice). Participants either completed tasks in which the to-be-remembered list-length was adjusted to individual digit span or was fixed at one item greater than the average span we observed for the age-group. The disruptive effects of irrelevant sound did not vary across the two methods of determining list-length. We found that tasks encouraging serial rehearsal were especially affected by changing-state sequences for both age-groups (i.e., the changing-state effect) and there were no group differences in relation to this effect. In contrast, disruption by a deviant sound—generally assumed to be the result of attentional diversion—was evident among children in all three tasks while adults were less susceptible to this effect. This pattern of results suggests that developmental differences in distraction are due to differences in attentional control rather than serial rehearsal efficiency.
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| 39. |
- Kabanshi, Alan, et al.
(författare)
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Disruption of writing by background speech : a classroom experiment
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Irrelevant background speech impairs cognitive capabilities such as writing. Laboratory studies wherein participants were tested alone in sound attenuated rooms, showed that ordinary speech, even with relatively low intelligibility (Keus van de Poll, Ljung, Odelius, Sörqvist, 2014), is more distracting than meaningless speech (Sörqvist, Nöstl, & Halin, 2012). Yet, so far research has paid little attention to the manifestation of these effects in classroom environments. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of irrelevant background speech on writing in a realistic classroom setting. The hypothesis was that irrelevant background speech would have distracting effects on text production, especially on writing fluency and typing errors. In an experimental within-subjects design, college students (in groups of 10-12 participants), sitting in a classroom, were asked to write short essays (5 minutes per essay) in the software program scriptlog. One essay was written in silence and one in the presence of background speech. As expected, background speech had a (slight) effect, although more participants are needed to increase the experimental power. Comparisons with previous studies on the effects of speech on writing are made and future directions are discussed.
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| 40. |
- Kabanshi, Alan, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental evaluation of an intermittent air supply system – Part 2: Occupant perception of thermal climate
- 2016
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Ingår i: Building and Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0360-1323 .- 1873-684X. ; 108, s. 99-109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A newly proposed intermittent air jet strategy (IAJS) provides satisfactory indoor climate while promising a substantial energy saving potential, as shown in technical (objective) measurements. The strategy creates non-uniform airflow and non-isothermal conditions critical for sedentary operations at elevated temperatures. The current study explored human perception of thermal environment under an IAJS. Assessment of thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and thermal acceptability were collected based on responses from 36 participants. Participants sat in a classroom setup and performed sedentary work. Their clothing had an insulation of 0.51 clo (T-shirt on upper body). Participants were exposed to homogeneous (v < 0.15 m/s) and nonhomogeneous (0.4 m/s < v < 0.8 m/s) velocity conditions across three temperature conditions: 22.5 °C, 25.5 °C and 28.5 °C. The participants found air speeds to be undesirable at lower temperatures, but reported an improved thermal sensation, comfort and acceptability at higher temperatures. As shown here, IAJS generated neutral operable conditions between 24.8 °C and 27.8 °C, within an air speed range of 0.4 m/s to 0.8 m/s. Additionally, air movements induced thermal alliethesia resulting in improved comfort and acceptance of the thermal climate even at lower air speeds in warm temperature conditions. Hence, the current study supports the energy saving potential with IAJS in view of the human perception of the indoor environment.
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