Informational and energetic masking effects in the perception of multiple simultaneous talkers

D S Brungart1, B D Simpson, M A Ericson

  • 1Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, USA. douglas.brungart@wpafb.af.mil

Summary

Listeners can better understand speech in noisy environments by using monaural cues, such as voice characteristics and relative loudness. These factors help segregate target speech from competing sounds, improving speech perception.

Related Concept Videos

Nonconscious Mimicry01:13

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.
Bystander Effect02:09

Bystander Effect

The discussion of bullying highlights the problem of witnesses not intervening to help a victim. This is a common occurrence, as the following well-publicized event demonstrates. In 1964, in Queens, New York, a 19-year-old woman named Kitty Genovese was attacked by a person with a knife near the back entrance to her apartment building and again in the hallway inside her apartment building. When the attack occurred, she screamed for help numerous times and eventually died from her stab wounds.
Social Facilitation01:04

Social Facilitation

Not all intergroup interactions lead to negative outcomes. Sometimes, being in a group situation can improve performance. Social facilitation occurs when an individual performs better when an audience is watching than when the individual performs the behavior alone. This typically occurs when people are performing a task for which they are skilled.
Barriers to Effective Communication I01:30

Barriers to Effective Communication I

A communication barrier is any distortion or interruption during a conversation, resulting in miscommunication of the message. A good communicator should know these barriers and continuously check for the listener's understanding by obtaining feedback.
Communication barriers include the following:
Physiological barriers: They are limitations caused by a person's health condition or disability, such as hearing loss, poor eyesight, illness, or unconsciousness. An example to overcome this barrier...
Masking and Demasking Agents01:19

Masking and Demasking Agents

EDTA titrations may necessitate masking and demasking agents to temporarily protect a particular metal ion in a mixture from the EDTA reaction. These agents facilitate the sequential analysis of the metal ions by forming stable complexes with some—but not all—metal ions during certain steps.
There are many masking agents, such as cyanide, fluoride, triethanolamine, thiourea, and 2,3-bis(sulfanyl)propan-1-ol (formerly 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanol), with the masking agent chosen based on the metal...
Non-Verbal Cues01:29

Non-Verbal Cues

Non-verbal communication extends beyond gestures and facial expressions to include vocal elements known as paralanguage. Paralanguage consists of non-verbal vocal cues such as pitch, loudness, speech rate, pauses, and non-verbal vocalizations like laughter, sighs, and moans. These elements not only accompany speech but also provide critical emotional and contextual information.The Role of Paralanguage in CommunicationParalanguage adds depth to spoken language by conveying emotions and...