| 1. |
- Arvidsson, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Pattern and orientation of diffusers in rooms with an absorbent ceiling
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics : Integrating 4th EAA Euroregio 2019 - Integrating 4th EAA Euroregio 2019. - 2226-7808 .- 2415-1599. - 9783939296157 ; 2019-September, s. 2281-2288
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lately have the demands on good room acoustics in public ordinary rooms increased. Traditionally has only reverberation time been considered in this type of rooms but complementary parameters as sound strength and speech clarity are more commonly used today. This trend naturally implies higher demands on the acoustic treatment. Typical for public ordinary rooms is to use an absorbent ceiling. One way to further improve the acoustic properties is to complement the ceiling treatment with diffusers. To investigate the effect of combining these two types of acoustic treatments have measurements been carried out combing different setups of diffusers in a reverberant room with an absorbent ceiling. The impact on reverberation time, speech clarity and sound strength has been studied. In this paper we present how diffusers can be used in order to improve the acoustic properties in a public ordinary room with an absorbent ceiling and how the pattern and orientation of diffusers can be used to adjust different acoustic parameters.
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| 2. |
- Fredriksson, Sofie, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Current perspective on children’s auditory perception and consequences of noise exposure effects
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - : Acoustical Society of America (ASA). - 0001-4966.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Exposure to high sound pressure levels is well known to cause auditory damage, regardless of age. There is however limited knowledge of the effects on hearing due to noise exposure early in life. In addition, no well-established model is used to describe how children perceive and experience their sound environment compared to adults. New studies of children’s hearing have revealed different directivity pattern especially at high frequencies given by the head-related transfer functions due to the anthropometric data of the children and also an ear canal resonance at considerable higher frequencies compared to adults. Recent studies also describe children feeling a great deal of discomfort when exposed to sounds with high frequency characteristics. Children today are exposed to high sound levels from an early age at preschool, school and during leisure time. Few studies have looked at general health effects or hearing in particular. It is being discussed whether age related hearing loss, regarded as an inevitable part of life, to a large extent may be caused by a lifetime of noise exposure starting early in life. This paper will review available studies on noise induced hearing damage among children and give suggestions for future studies within this field.
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| 3. |
- Ljung, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Top-Down Cognitive Factors Influence Second-Language Word Identification in Noise
- 2017
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Ingår i: Abstracts of the Psychonomic Society. ; , s. 291-291
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Forty-four sequential bilingual children aged fifteen underwent assessments of speech-in-noise perception, first and second language vocabulary and auditory working memory (forward digit span). In order to investigate the signal driven processes might affect bilinguals’ “spatial release from masking” (SRM) a listening in spatialized noise paradigm was adapted for the bilingual context. A simple number and colour identification task presented in English and Swedish, and the talker was masked adaptively by speech-shaped noise and eight-talker babble under two spatialized conditions in simulated room acoustics; targets and maskers were either collocated at zero degrees azimuth or spatially separated at ninety degrees azimuth to either side. The resulting language and noise conditions were contrasted with existing research on bilingual adults and native-language speaking children, extending findings to a younger sample of sequential bilingual children. The results indicating a significant relationship between cognitive ability and second-language speech reception threshold.
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| 4. |
- Loh, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Toward Child-Appropriate Acoustic Measurement Methods in Primary Schools and Daycare Centers
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Built Environment. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2297-3362. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Children spend a considerable amount of time in educational institutions, where they are constantly exposed to noisy sound environments, which has detrimental effects on children’s health and cognitive development. Extensive room acoustics measurements and long-term in-situ measurements in such institutions are scarce and are generally conducted using omnidirectional microphones. This study provides preliminary results of room acoustics in unoccupied conditions and in-situ noise measurements during occupancy, in classrooms and playrooms in Germany using an omnidirectional microphone, an adult HATS (head and torso simulator), and a child HATS. The results indicate that room acoustics of most of the sampled rooms need improvement (mid-frequency reverberation time, T30 (s) = 0.6 (0.3–1.1) and clarity index, C50 (dB) = 6.1 (1.6–10.4); speech transmission index (STI) = 0.7 (0.6–0.8); mean values and range); the sound pressure level (SPL) during activities was around 66dB (A-weighted equivalent level SPL) in both classrooms and playrooms using omnidirectional measurements, which is somewhat lower than similar measurements in other countries that varied in measurement periods; psychoacoustics parameters relating to sound fluctuation (fluctuation strength and roughness) show variation with increasing room volumes; and that there may be some benefit in considering child HATS for in-situ noise measurements. While the validity of these results in relation to children’s perceptual evaluation (using questionnaires, etc.) is subject to future investigations, the results highlight some of the nuances in the choice of transducers in measurements with children and potential benefits of psychoacoustic parameters in complementing the SPL-based parameters in more comprehensively characterizing the noise environments in educational institutions.
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| 5. |
- MacCutcheon, Douglas, et al.
(författare)
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Second language vocabulary level is related to benefits for second language listening comprehension under lower reverberation time conditions
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cognitive Psychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2044-5911 .- 2044-592X. ; 31:2, s. 175-185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The acoustic qualities of a room can have a deleterious effect on the quality of speech signals. The acoustic measurement of reverberation time (RT) has shown to impact second language (L2) speech comprehension positively when lower due to release from spectral and temporal masking effects as well as top-down processing factors. This auralization experiment investigated the benefits of better L2 vocabulary and executive function (updating) skills during L2 listening comprehension tests under shorter versus longer RT conditions (0.3 and 0.9 s). 57 bilingual university students undertook L2 vocabulary, number updating and L2 listening comprehension tests. After splitting groups into high/low vocabulary and updating groups, a mixed ANOVA was conducted. The high number updating group showed no significant differences or interactions in L2 listening comprehension than the lower number updating group across RT conditions. The high vocabulary group had 22% better L2 listening comprehension than the low vocabulary group in long RT, and 9% better in short RT. A significant benefit in L2 listening comprehension due to release from reverberation was only evident in the high vocabulary group. Results indicate that the benefit of good room acoustics for listening comprehension is greatest for those with better language (vocabulary) ability.
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| 6. |
- MacCutcheon, Douglas, et al.
(författare)
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The contribution of individual differences in memory span and language ability to spatial release from masking in young children
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. - : ASHA. - 1092-4388 .- 1558-9102. ; 62:10, s. 3741-3751
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Working memory capacity and language ability modulate speech reception; however, the respective roles of peripheral and cognitive processing are unclear. The contribution of individual differences in these abilities to utilization of spatial cues when separating speech from informational and energetic masking backgrounds in children has not yet been determined. Therefore, this study explored whether speech reception in children is modulated by environmental factors, such as the type of background noise and spatial configuration of target and noise sources, and individual differences in the cognitive and linguistic abilities of listeners.Method: Speech reception thresholds were assessed in 39 children aged 5-7 years in simulated school listening environments. Speech reception thresholds of target sentences spoken by an adult male consisting of number and color combinations were measured using an adaptive procedure, with speech-shaped white noise and single-talker backgrounds that were either collocated (target and back-ground at 0°) or spatially separated (target at 0°, background noise at 90° to the right). Spatial release from masking was assessed alongside memory span and expressive language.Results and Conclusion: Significant main effect results showed that speech reception thresholds were highest for informational maskers and collocated conditions. Significant interactions indicated that individual differences in memory span and language ability were related to spatial release from masking advantages. Specifically, individual differences in memory span and language were related to the utilization of spatial cues in separated conditions. Language differences were related to auditory stream segregation abilities in collocated conditions that lack helpful spatial cues, pointing to the utilization of language processes to make up for losses in spatial information.
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| 7. |
- MacCutcheon, Douglas, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of language, spatial factors, masker type and memory span on speech-in-noise thresholds in sequential bilingual children
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0036-5564 .- 1467-9450. ; 59:6, s. 567-577
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study considers whether bilingual children listening in a second language are among those on which higher processing and cognitive demands are placed when noise is present. Forty-four Swedish sequential bilingual 15 year-olds were given memory span and vocabulary assessments in their first and second language (Swedish and English). First and second language speech reception thresholds (SRTs) at 50% intelligibility for numbers and colors presented in noise were obtained using an adaptive procedure. The target sentences were presented in simulated, virtual classroom acoustics, masked by either 16-talker multi-talker babble noise (MTBN) or speech shaped noise (SSN), positioned either directly in front of the listener (collocated with the target speech), or spatially separated from the target speech by 90° to either side. Main effects in the Spatial and Noise factors indicated that intelligibility was 3.8 dB lower in collocated conditions and 2.9 dB lower in MTBN conditions. SRTs were unexpectedly higher by 0.9 dB in second language conditions. Memory span significantly predicted 17% of the variance in the second language SRTs, and 9% of the variance in first language SRTs, indicating the possibility that the SRT task places higher cognitive demands when listening to second language speech than when the target is in the listener's first language.
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| 8. |
- MacCutcheon, Douglas, et al.
(författare)
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The relationship between working memory and second language speech reception thresholds in sequential bilingual children
- 2017
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Ingår i: APCAM 2017. ; , s. 14-14
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study considers whether or not bilingual school children listening and learning in a second language are among those on which higher perceptual processing and cognitive demands are placed when classroom noise is present. Empirical substantiation for this theory would include elevated speech reception thresholds (SRTs) for second language speech in noise, and native or second language-specific correlations between SRTs and cognitive measures such as working memory (WM) or factors such as the age at which the second language was acquired (age of second language acquisition). Forty-four Swedish sequential bilingual children with no sensory or learning deficits took part in this study. Working memory and vocabulary assessments were conducted and language background data were collected. SRTs at 50 % intelligibility were obtained using an adaptive procedure under Language, Spatial and Noise conditions. The target sentence was presented in simulated room acoustics in Swedish and English, masked by either 8-talker babble or speech shaped noise (SSN) with identical long-term average speech spectra, and noise maskers were positioned either directly in front of the listener or spatially separated from the target at 90° azimuth to either side. Main effects in the Spatial and Noise conditions indicated that spatial release from masking favoured spatially separated conditions and a noise release from masking advantage for SSN conditions, indicated by significantly lower thresholds for those conditions. There were no significant interactions with Language. The age of second language acquisition did not significantly predict second language SRTs and was excluded from the regression model. However, WM significantly predicted 21% of the variance in the second language SRTs, and 9% of the variance in native language SRTs. WM predicted more of the variance in second language SRTs than first language SRTs, suggesting that cognition plays more of a role in second language perceptual processes than native language ones.
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| 9. |
- Persson Waye, Kerstin, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Adopting a child perspective for exposome research on mental health and cognitive development - Conceptualisation and opportunities.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental research. - 0013-9351 .- 1096-0953. ; 239:Pt 1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mental disorders among children and adolescents pose a significant global challenge. The exposome framework covering the totality of internal, social and physical exposures over a lifetime provides opportunities to better understand the causes of and processes related to mental health, and cognitive functioning. The paper presents a conceptual framework on exposome, mental health, and cognitive development in children and adolescents, with potential mediating pathways, providing a possibility for interventions along the life course. The paper underscores the significance of adopting a child perspective to the exposome, acknowledging children's specific vulnerability, including differential exposures, susceptibility of effects and capacity to respond; their susceptibility during development and growth, highlighting neurodevelopmental processes from conception to young adulthood that are highly sensitive to external exposures. Further, critical periods when exposures may have significant effects on a child's development and future health are addressed. The paper stresses that children's behaviour, physiology, activity pattern and place for activities make them differently vulnerable to environmental pollutants, and calls for child-specific assessment methods, currently lacking within today's health frameworks. The importance of understanding the interplay between structure and agency is emphasized, where agency is guided by social structures and practices and vice-versa. An intersectional approach that acknowledges the interplay of social and physical exposures as well as a global and rural perspective on exposome is further pointed out. To advance the exposome field, interdisciplinary efforts that involve multiple scientific disciplines are crucial. By adopting a child perspective and incorporating an exposome approach, we can gain a comprehensive understanding of how exposures impact children's mental health and cognitive development leading to better outcomes.
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| 10. |
- van Kamp, Irene, et al.
(författare)
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Early environmental quality and life-course mental health effects: The Equal-Life project
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Epidemiology. - 2474-7882. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: There is increasing evidence that a complex interplay of factors within environments in which children grows up, contributes to children's suboptimal mental health and cognitive development. The concept of the life-course exposome helps to study the impact of the physical and social environment, including social inequities, on cognitive development and mental health over time. Methods: Equal-Life develops and tests combined exposures and their effects on children's mental health and cognitive development. Data from eight birth-cohorts and three school studies (N = 240.000) linked to exposure data, will provide insights and policy guidance into aspects of physical and social exposures hitherto untapped, at different scale levels and timeframes, while accounting for social inequities. Reasoning from the outcome point of view, relevant stakeholders participate in the formulation and validation of research questions, and in the formulation of environmental hazards. Exposure assessment combines GIS-based environmental indicators with omics approaches and new data sources, forming the early-life exposome. Statistical tools integrate data at different spatial and temporal granularity and combine exploratory machine learning models with hypothesis-driven causal modeling. Conclusions: Equal-Life contributes to the development and utilization of the exposome concept by (1) integrating the internal, physical and social exposomes, (2) studying a distinct set of life-course effects on a child's development and mental health (3) characterizing the child's environment at different developmental stages and in different activity spaces, (4) looking at supportive environments for child development, rather than merely pollutants, and (5) combining physical, social indicators with novel effect markers and using new data sources describing child activity patterns and environments.
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