Implicit and Explicit Voice Training Effects on Speech-on-Speech Perception and Listening Effort.

Area of Science:

• Auditory perception and speech processing
• Cognitive psychology and neuroscience
• Human-computer interaction and voice technology

Background:

• Speech intelligibility in noisy environments is crucial for effective communication.
• Familiar or trained voices can improve speech intelligibility in multitalker situations.
• The comparative effectiveness of implicit versus explicit voice training remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically compare the effects of implicit and explicit voice training on speech intelligibility.
• To evaluate the impact of these training methods on listening effort in a speech-on-speech task.
• To investigate the interaction between voice training and target-to-masker ratio (TMR) on auditory perception.

Main Methods:

• 32 normal-hearing participants underwent either implicit (intelligibility task) or explicit (speaker recognition task) voice training.
• Participants completed a speech-on-speech listening task with trained and untrained voices at varying TMRs (-6, 0, +6 dB).
• Speech intelligibility was measured, and pupillometry was used to assess listening effort.

Main Results:

• No significant overall improvement in speech intelligibility was found for either training method.
• Increasing TMR significantly improved speech intelligibility, with implicit training showing benefits at +6 dB TMR.
• Both training methods reduced listening effort, with explicit training showing less effort for trained voices across TMR conditions.

Conclusions:

• Both implicit and explicit voice training can reduce listening effort, independent of intelligibility gains.
• Explicit voice training appears to be less effortful for trained voices, while implicit training may aid intelligibility at higher TMRs.
• Differential benefits of voice training suggest potential for tailored approaches in speech perception enhancement.