Maturation of Listening Effort in Typically Developing Children

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Speech and Hearing Sciences

Background:

• Listening effort (LE) is crucial for language comprehension.
• Understanding the developmental trajectory of LE in children is essential for identifying potential difficulties.
• Previous research has not fully elucidated the maturation process of LE across childhood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the developmental maturation of listening effort (LE) in typically developing children.
• To determine the age at which children's listening effort performance becomes comparable to adults.
• To examine the correlation between age and listening effort outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A dual-tasking paradigm was employed to assess listening effort.
• Participants included 140 typically developing children across seven age groups (7-12 years) and adults (18-30 years).
• Tasks involved repeating words (primary) and responding to visual stimuli (secondary).

Main Results:

• Age significantly impacted performance on both primary and secondary listening effort tasks.
• Children's primary task performance matched adults by age 9.
• Children's secondary task performance reached adult levels by age 12.

Conclusions:

• Age is a critical factor in the development of listening effort.
• Listening effort maturation follows a protracted developmental course, with distinct timelines for different task components.
• Age-specific strategies are vital for accurate LE assessment and intervention in children.