Previous research has shown that learning effects are present for speech intelligibility in temporally modulated (TM) noise, but not in stationary noise. The present study aimed to gain more insight into the factors that might affect the time course (the number of trials required to reach stable performance) and size [the improvement in the speech reception threshold (SRT)] of the learning effect. Two hypotheses were addressed: (1) learning effects are present in both TM and spectrally modulated (SM) noise and (2) the time course and size of the learning effect depend on the amount of masking release caused by either TM or SM noise. Eighteen normal-hearing adults (23–62 years) participated in SRT measurements, in which they listened to sentences in six masker conditions, including stationary, TM, and SM noise conditions. The results showed learning effects in all TM and SM noise conditions, but not for the stationary noise condition. The learning effect was related to the size of masking release: a larger masking release was accompanied by an increased time course of the learning effect and a larger learning effect. The results also indicate that speech is processed differently in SM noise than in TM noise.
REFERENCES
2.
Bent
,
T.
,
Buchwald
,
A.
, and
Pisoni
,
D. B.
(2009
). “
Perceptual adaptation and intelligibility of multiple talkers for two types of degraded speech
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
126
(5
), 2660
–2669
.4.
Bilger
,
R. C.
,
Nuetzel
,
J. M.
,
Rabinowitz
,
W. M.
, and
Rzeczkowski
,
C.
(1984
). “
Standardization of a test of speech perception in noise
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
27
, 32
–48
.5.
Brungart
,
D. S.
,
Walden
,
B.
,
Cord
,
M.
,
Phatak
,
S.
,
Theodoroff
,
S. M.
,
Griest
,
S.
, and
Grant
,
K. W.
(2017
). “
Development and validation of the Speech Reception in Noise (SPRINT) Test
,” Hear. Res.
349
, 90
–97
.6.
Burns
,
O. M.
, and
Rajan
,
R.
(2008
). “
Learning in a task of complex auditory streaming and identification
,” Neurobiol. Learn. Mem.
89
(4
), 448
–461
.7.
Cainer
,
K. E.
,
James
,
C.
, and
Rajan
,
R.
(2008
). “
Learning speech-in-noise discrimination in adult humans
,” Hear. Res.
238
(1–2
), 155
–164
.8.
Calandruccio
,
L.
,
Buss
,
E.
, and
Hall
,
J. W.
(2014
). “
Effects of linguistic experience on the ability to benefit from temporal and spectral masker modulation
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
135
(3
), 1335
–1343
.9.
Cooke
,
M.
(2006
). “
A glimpsing model of speech perception in noise
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
119
(3
), 1562
–1573
.10.
Davidson
,
A.
, and
Souza
,
P.
(2024
). “
Relationships between auditory processing and cognitive abilities in adults: A systematic review
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
67
, 296
–345
.11.
Dunn
,
C. C.
,
Perreau
,
A.
,
Gantz
,
B.
, and
Tyler
,
R. S.
(2010
). “
Benefits of localization and speech perception with multiple noise sources in listeners with a short-electrode cochlear implant
,” J. Am. Acad. Audiol.
21
(1
), 44
–51
.12.
Felty
,
R. A.
,
Buchwald
,
A.
, and
Pisoni
,
D. B.
(2009
). “
Adaptation to frozen babble in spoken word recognition
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
125
(3
), EL93
–EL97
.13.
Festen
,
J. M.
, and
Plomp
,
R.
(1990
). “
Effects of fluctuating noise and interfering speech on the speech reception threshold for impaired and normal hearing
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
88
, 1725
–1736
.14.
Fogerty
,
D.
,
Carter
,
B. L.
, and
Healy
,
E. W.
(2018
). “
Glimpsing speech in temporally and spectro-temporally modulated noise
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
143
(5
), 3047
–3057
.15.
Gatehouse
,
S.
,
Naylor
,
G.
, and
Elberling
,
C.
(2003
). “
Benefits from hearing aids in relation to the interaction between the user and the environment
,” Int. J. Audiol.
42
, 77
–85
.16.
Hall
,
J. W.
,
Buss
,
E.
,
Grose
,
J. H.
, and
Roush
,
P. A.
(2012
). “
Effects of age and hearing impairment on the ability to benefit from temporal and spectral modulation
,” Ear Hear.
33
(3
), 340
–348.17.
Hawley
,
M. L.
,
Litovsky
,
R. Y.
, and
Colburn
,
H. S.
(1999
). “
Speech intelligibility and localization in a multi-source environment
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
105
(6
), 3436
–3448
.18.
Healy
,
E. W.
,
Johnson
,
E. M.
,
Pandey
,
A.
, and
Wang
,
D.
(2023
). “
Progress made in the efficacy and viability of deep-learning-based noise reduction
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
153
(5
), 2751
–2768
.19.
Heidari
,
A.
,
Moossavi
,
A.
,
Yadegari
,
F.
,
Bakhshi
,
E.
, and
Ahadi
,
M.
(2018
). “
Effects of age on speech-in-noise identification: Subjective ratings of hearing difficulties and encoding of fundamental frequency in older adults
,” J. Audiol. Otol.
22
(3
), 134
–139
.20.
Helfer
,
K. S.
(2015
). “
Competing speech perception in middle age
,” Am. J. Audiol.
24
(2
), 80
–83
.21.
Johnsrude
,
I. S.
,
Mackey
,
A.
,
Hakyemez
,
H.
,
Alexander
,
E.
,
Trang
,
H. P.
, and
Carlyon
,
R. P.
(2013
). “
Swinging at a cocktail party: Voice familiarity aids speech perception in the presence of a competing voice
,” Psychol. Sci.
24
(10
), 1995
–2004
.22.
Killion
,
M. C.
,
Niquette
,
P. A.
,
Gudmundsen
,
G. I.
,
Revit
,
L. J.
, and
Banerjee
,
S.
(2004
). “
Development of a quick speech-in-noise test for measuring signal-to-noise ratio loss in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
116
(4
), 2395
–2405
.23.
Léger
,
A. C.
,
Moore
,
B. C.
, and
Lorenzi
,
C.
(2012
). “
Temporal and spectral masking release in low- and mid-frequency regions for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
131
(2
), 1502
–1514
.24.
Levitt
,
H.
(1971
). “
Transformed up-down methods in psychoacoustics
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
49
, 467
–477
.25.
Lyzenga
,
J.
, and
Smits
,
C.
(2011
). “
Effects of coarticulation, prosody, and noise freshness on the intelligibility of digit triplets in noise
,” J. Am. Acad. Audiol.
22
, 215
–221
.26.
Millman
,
E. R.
, and
Mattys
,
S. L.
(2017
). “
Auditory verbal working memory as a predictor of speech perception in modulated maskers in listeners with normal hearing
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
60
(5
), 1236
–1245
.27.
Nielsen
,
J. B.
, and
Dau
,
T.
(2011
). “
The Danish hearing in noise test
,” Int. J. Audiol.
50
(3
), 202
–208
.28.
Nilsson
,
M.
,
Soli
,
S. D.
, and
Sullivan
,
J. A.
(1994
). “
Development of the Hearing in Noise Test for the measurement of speech reception thresholds in quiet and in noise
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
95
, 1085
–1099
.29.
Peters
,
R. W.
,
Moore
,
B. C.
, and
Baer
,
T.
(1998
). “
Speech reception thresholds in noise with and without spectral and temporal dips for hearing-impaired and normally hearing people
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
103
(1
), 577
–587
.30.
Plomp
,
R.
, and
Mimpen
,
A. M.
(1979
). “
Improving the reliability of testing the speech reception threshold for sentences
,” Int. J. Audiol.
18
, 43
–52
.31.
Rhebergen
,
K. S.
,
Versfeld
,
N. J.
, and
Dreschler
,
W. A.
(2005
). “
Release from informational masking by time reversal of native and non-native interfering speech
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
118
, 1274
–1277
.32.
Rhebergen
,
K. S.
,
Versfeld
,
N. J.
, and
Dreschler
,
W. A.
(2006
). “
Extended speech intelligibility index for the prediction of the speech reception threshold in fluctuating noise
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
120
, 3988
–3997
.33.
Rhebergen
,
K. S.
,
Versfeld
,
N. J.
, and
Dreschler
,
W. A.
(2008
). “
Learning effect observed for the speech reception threshold in interrupted noise with normal hearing listeners
,” Int. J. Audiol.
47
, 185
–188
.35.
Samuel
,
A. G.
, and
Kraljic
,
T.
(2009
). “
Perceptual learning for speech
,” Atten. Percept. Psychophys.
71
, 1207
–1218
.36.
Smits
,
C.
,
Goverts
,
S. T.
, and
Festen
,
J. M.
(2013
). “
The digits-in-noise test: Assessing auditory speech recognition abilities in noise
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
133
(3
), 1693
–1706
.37.
Smits
,
C.
, and
Houtgast
,
T.
(2006
). “
Measurements and calculations on the simple up-down adaptive procedure for speech-in-noise tests
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
120
(3
), 1608
–1621
.38.
Taylor
,
B.
(2003
). “
Speech-in-noise tests: How and why to include them in your basic test-battery
,” Hear J.
56
(1
), 40
–43
.39.
Versfeld
,
N. J.
,
Daalder
,
L.
,
Festen
,
J. M.
, and
Houtgast
,
T.
(2000
). “
Method for the selection of sentence materials for efficient measurement of the speech reception threshold
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
107
, 1671
–1684
.40.
Versfeld
,
N. J.
,
Lie
,
S.
,
Kramer
,
S. E.
, and
Zekveld
,
A. A.
(2021
). “
Informational masking with speech-on-speech intelligibility: Pupil response and time-course of learning
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
149
, 2353
–2366
.41.
Wagenaar
,
W. A.
(1969
). “
Note on the construction of diagram-balanced Latin squares
,” Psychol. Bull.
72
, 384
–386
.43.
Yund
,
E. W.
, and
Woods
,
D. L.
(2010
). “
Content and procedural learning in repeated sentence tests of speech perception
,” Ear Hear.
31
(6
), 769
–778
.44.
Zekveld
,
A. A.
,
Koelewijn
,
T.
, and
Kramer
,
S. E.
(2018
). “
The pupil dilation response to auditory stimuli: Current state of knowledge
,” Trends Hear.
22
, 233121651877717
.© 2024 Acoustical Society of America.
2024
Acoustical Society of America
You do not currently have access to this content.