Spatial release from energetic and informational masking in a divided speech identification task.
Antje Ihlefeld1, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham
1Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Boston University Hearing Research Center, 677 Beacon St., Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|June 10, 2008
Summary
Spatial separation enhances divided listening performance in two-talker environments. This improves the ability to hear, segregate, and focus on less-intense speech signals, even with significant level differences.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psychoacoustics
- Speech Perception
Background:
- Selective listening improves with spatial separation in two-talker environments.
- Divided listening, where both messages are reported, is less understood regarding spatial effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of spatial separation on divided listening performance.
- To determine how varying intensity levels affect performance in divided listening with spatial separation.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a divided listening task with two simultaneous speech messages.
- One message was fixed in level, while the other varied in intensity (0-40 dB difference).
- Spatial separation between the two talkers was manipulated.
Main Results:
- Spatial separation significantly improved divided listening performance.
- Errors were primarily due to failing to report the less-intense talker's content.
- Performance improved with increasing broadband energy ratio of the variable-level to fixed-level talker.
Conclusions:
- Spatial separation aids divided listening by improving audibility of masked signal portions.
- Spatial cues facilitate segregation of talkers into distinct perceptual streams.
- Spatial separation enhances selective attention to the less-intense talker.
