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| 2. |
- Dahlström, Örjan, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive training and effects on speech-in noise performance in normal hearing and hearing impaired individuals
- 2015
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Ingår i: CHSCOM2015. - : Linköping University Electronic Press. ; , s. 127-127
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Cognitive training might have potential to improve speech understanding under adverse listening conditions. Here, we have examined the effects of a 5-week computer-based cognitive training program on speech-in-noise-performance, in normal hearing (NH) participants and in participants with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss (HI).Two groups, matched on gender and age (45-65 years), of 20 participants each (HI and NH respectively) are recruited. Participants perform four test-sessions; inclusion (t0), five weeks (t1), ten weeks (t2) and six months (t3). Training is performed either between t0 and t1, or between t1 and t2 (using a cross-over design), using the computer-based Cogmed training program, approximately 30-40 minutes per day, five days per week, during five weeks. At each session participants are tested in three different ways: (a) cognitive testing (KIPS, SICSPAN, TRT); (b) auditory performance (pure tone-audiometry (air- and bone-conduction) and speech audiometry (HINT, Swedish SPIN-test (SNR +4dB))); (c) cortical activation (MR sessions where participants performed a speech-in-noise task using Hagerman-sentences with steady-state speech-spectrum noise (SSN) and with two competing talkers). MR imaging is performed on a Philips Achieva 1.5 Tesla scanner using a sparse imaging technique in which stimuli are presented during the silent period between successive scans. Participants listen to auditory stimuli under eight different conditions: clear speech, SSN or two competing talkers (each at 90%, 50% and 0% intelligibility), and silent rest. Pre- and post-training, hearing disability is assessed by the Speech-Spatial-Qualities-Questionnaire.The study is on-going and behavioral results as well as results from fMRI will be presented.
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| 3. |
- 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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| 4. |
- 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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| 5. |
- 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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| 6. |
- Keus van de Poll, Marijke, et al.
(författare)
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Disruption of writing by background speech: The role of speech transmission index
- 2014
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Ingår i: Applied Acoustics. - : Elsevier. - 0003-682X .- 1872-910X. ; 81, s. 15-18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Speech transmission index (STI) is an objective measure of the acoustic properties of office environments and is used to specify norms for acceptable acoustic work conditions. Yet, the tasks used to evaluate the effects of varying STIs on work performance have often been focusing on memory (as memory of visually presented words) and reading tasks and may not give a complete view of the severity even of low STI values (i.e., when speech intelligibility is low). Against this background, we used a more typical office-work task in the present study. The participants were asked to write short essays (5 min per essay) in 5 different STI conditions (0.08; 0.23; 0.34; 0.50; and 0.71). Writing fluency dropped drastically and the number of pauses longer than 5 s increased at STI values above 0.23. This study shows that realistic work-related performance drops even at low STI values and has implications for how to evaluate acoustic conditions in school and office environments.
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| 7. |
- Linder, Noah, et al.
(författare)
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Managing waste behavior by manipulating the normative appeal of trash bins: Lessons from an urban field experiment
- 2023
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling Advances. - : Elsevier Inc.. - 2667-3789. ; 19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Littering is a problem in many human societies. In this study, 9 individual street bins were manipulated on a central street in the city of Gävle, Sweden. The aim was to explore if changing the appearance of the bins, thereby manipulating the different types of social norms they signal, can increase the amount of trash they collect and mitigate littering. A field experiment tested the effectiveness of two alternatives to the conventional grey street bin; one bin foliated with pictures drawn by school children containing a normative anti-littering message (explicit norm), and one bright orange salient bin (implicit norm). Observed behavioral data was collected, and both the weight and volume of trash in the bins were measured each day for a period of one month. The results showed a tendency for the salient orange bin to increase trash collection compared to other bins; an effect most tangible towards the end of the weeks. The biggest effect was, however, that the explicitly normative bin reduced trash collection overall. These results provide lessons on how the appearance of bins can influence trash collection, potentially resulting in both desirable and undesirable outcomes.
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| 8. |
- Lindvall, Daniel, Dr, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Overcoming the headwinds: Can policy design shape public acceptance of wind power in Sweden?
- 2024
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores wind power attitudes in Sweden, considering the proximity of wind power installations, using a large-scale survey (N = 5280). The study examines if attitudes were affected by policies that provide collective financial benefits through municipal tax revenues, personal benefits through direct compensation, or openings for democratic involvement. Only 15 % of the respondents expressed negative attitudes to wind power as a measure to speed up the transition to a fossil free society, while 26 % were negative to wind power built within 5 km from their homes. Attitudes were mainly predicted by ideological standpoints, environmental concern and political and governmental trust. The study found that for wind power constructed in the home municipality, respondents preferred collectively distributed financial benefits, while direct personal compensation offers the best prospects to influence ideologically motivated attitudes. None of the policy interventions tested in this study had any significant effect on respondents with strongly negative views.
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| 9. |
- Marsh, John Everett, et al.
(författare)
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Irrelevant changing-state vibrotactile stimuli disrupt verbal serial recall: implications for theories of interference in short-term memory
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Cognitive Psychology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2044-5911 .- 2044-592X. ; 36:1, s. 78-100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- What causes interference in short-term memory? We report the novel finding that immediate memory for visually-presented verbal items is sensitive to disruption from task-irrelevant vibrotactile stimuli. Specifically, short-term memory for a visual sequence is disrupted by a concurrently presented sequence of vibrations, but only when the vibrotactile sequence entails change (when the sequence “jumps” between the two hands). The impact on visual-verbal serial recall was similar in magnitude to that for auditory stimuli (Experiment 1). Performance of the missing item task, requiring recall of item-identity rather than item-order, was unaffected by changing-state vibrotactile stimuli (Experiment 2), as with changing-state auditory stimuli. Moreover, the predictability of the changing-state sequence did not modulate the magnitude of the effect, arguing against an attention-capture conceptualisation (Experiment 3). Results support the view that interference in short-term memory is produced by conflict between incompatible, amodal serial-ordering processes (interference-by-process) rather than interference between similar representational codes (interference-by-content).
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| 10. |
- Sörqvist, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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High second-language proficiency protects against the effects of reverberation on listening comprehension
- 2014
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0036-5564 .- 1467-9450. ; 55:2, s. 91-96
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this experiment was to investigate whether classroom reverberation influences second-language (L2) listening comprehension. Moreover, we investigated whether individual differences in baseline L2 proficiency and in working memory capacity (WMC) modulate the effect of reverberation time on L2 listening comprehension. The results showed that L2 listening comprehension decreased as reverberation time increased. Participants with higher baseline L2 proficiency were less susceptible to this effect. WMC was also related to the effect of reverberation (although just barely significant), but the effect of WMC was eliminated when baseline L2 proficiency was statistically controlled. Taken together, the results suggest that top-down cognitive capabilities support listening in adverse conditions. Potential implications for the Swedish national tests in English are discussed.
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