Presenting and processing information in background noise: A combined speaker-listener perspective.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Speech communication
• Environmental acoustics

Background:

• Oral information transfer is challenging in noisy environments.
• Real-world communication involves complex interactions between speaker, listener, task, noise, and context.
• Ecologically valid experimental designs are needed to study these mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of different background noise types on oral information transfer.
• To assess speaker disfluency and listener effort in various noise conditions.
• To understand how ecologically valid noise impacts communication dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed an information transfer task in four noise conditions: quiet, multitalker babble, city street noise, and highway noise.
• Speakers focused on information delivery, with hesitation phenomena assessed.
• Listeners performed a primary comprehension task and a secondary task to measure listening effort.

Main Results:

• Fluctuating city street noise presented the most significant challenge for listeners, indicated by longer secondary task durations.
• Speakers exhibited less disfluency in fluctuating city street noise, suggesting increased concentration.
• Background noise complexity impacts both speaker and listener performance.

Conclusions:

• Ecologically valid background noise, particularly fluctuating city sounds, significantly increases listening effort.
• Speakers may enhance focus and reduce disfluency when faced with challenging background noise.
• Understanding noise impacts is crucial for improving communication strategies in real-world settings.