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Differences Between Subjective and Behavioral Listening Effort in Children Across Age and Task Complexity
1Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Ear and Hearing
|December 19, 2025
Summary
Children experience higher listening effort in noisy classrooms, with older children showing better speech perception. Classroom noise negatively impacts children's ability to understand speech.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Perception
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Listening effort and speech perception are crucial for learning in children.
- Classroom acoustics and noise significantly impact auditory processing and cognitive load.
- Understanding age-related differences in auditory effort is essential for educational settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how task complexity and age affect children's listening effort and speech perception.
- To examine the influence of noise and acoustic conditions on listening effort and speech perception.
- To test hypotheses regarding the interplay of noise, acoustics, task difficulty, and age on auditory performance.
Main Methods:
- 39 elementary school children (6-10 years) performed word recognition and decision tasks.
- Acoustic conditions included anechoic and simulated classrooms with and without multi-talker babble noise.
- Task difficulty was manipulated to induce the psychological refractory period effect; subjective effort was measured via questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Subjective listening effort was higher in noise across all conditions and age groups.
- Behavioral measures (response speed) showed age-related differences, with older children faster.
- Task difficulty impacted response speed; complex interactions were found in error rates.
Conclusions:
- Subjective and behavioral listening effort measures showed differing responses to noise and age.
- Older children exhibited less behavioral effort and better speech perception, especially in noise.
- Classroom noise negatively affects children's speech perception, particularly for younger children.
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