Most studies investigating the effects of environmental noise on children's cognitive performance examine the impact of monaural noise (i.e., same signal to both ears), oversimplifying multiple ...aspects of binaural hearing (i.e., adequately reproducing interaural differences and spatial information). In the current study, the effects of a realistic classroom-noise scenario presented either monaurally or binaurally on tasks requiring processing of auditory and visually presented information were analyzed in children and adults. In Experiment 1, across age groups, word identification was more impaired by monaural than by binaural classroom noise, whereas listening comprehension (acting out oral instructions) was equally impaired in both noise conditions. In both tasks, children were more affected than adults. Disturbance ratings were unrelated to the actual performance decrements. Experiment 2 revealed detrimental effects of classroom noise on short-term memory (serial recall of words presented pictorially), which did not differ with age or presentation mode (monaural vs. binaural). The present results add to the evidence for detrimental effects of noise on speech perception and cognitive performance, and their interactions with age, using a realistic classroom-noise scenario. Binaural simulations of real-world auditory environments can improve the external validity of studies on the impact of noise on children's and adults' learning.
This study examined how the intelligibility of irrelevant speech, determined with the Speech Transmission Index (STI), affects demanding cognitive task performance. Experiment was carried out in a ...laboratory that resembled an open‐plan office. Three speech conditions were tested corresponding to a private office (STI = 0.10), an acoustically excellent open office (STI = 0.35) and an acoustically poor open office (STI = 0.65). All conditions were presented at equal level, 48 dBA. The STI was adjusted by the relative levels of speech and masking sound. Thirty‐seven students participated in the experiment that lasted for 4 h. All participants performed five tasks in each of the three speech conditions. Questionnaires were used to assess subjective perceptions of the speech conditions. Performance in the operation span task, the serial recall and the activation of prior knowledge from long‐term memory were deteriorated in the speech condition with the highest speech intelligibility (STI = 0.65) in comparison with the other two conditions (STI = 0.10 and STI = 0.35). Unlike performance measures, questionnaire results showed consistent differences among all three speech conditions, i.e. subjective disturbance increased with ascending speech intelligibility. Thus, subjective comfort was disturbed more easily than performance. The results support the use of STI as an essential room acoustic design measure in open‐plan offices.
Practical Implications
Reduction of speech intelligibility in office environments by proper acoustic design would be beneficial in terms of both work performance and subjective comfort. Proper acoustic design requires both the use of high acoustic absorption and an appropriate masking sound.
By using the principle of virtual work, the finite element equations corresponding to the generalized thermoelasticity with two relaxation times (i.e., the G–L theory) are derived. In order to ...improve the accuracy of integral transform method, especially in two/three-dimension, the equations are solved directly in time-domain. As numerical examples, the developed method is used to investigate the generalized thermoelastic behavior of a slim strip and a semi-infinite plate subject to thermal shock loading. The results demonstrate that the developed method can faithfully predict the deformation of the structure and most importantly the delicate second sound effect of heat conduction in both one and two-dimensional solids whilst it is usually difficult to model, especially in two-dimensional, by using the transform method. This method can also be used to study generalized piezothermoelastic and magnetothermoelastic problems.
Memory performance is severely disrupted when task-irrelevant sound is played during item presentation or in a retention interval. Working memory models make contrasting assumptions on whether the ...semantic content of the auditory distractors modulates the irrelevant sound effect. In the present study, participants made more errors in serial recall when they had to ignore sentences containing their own name as opposed to that of a yoked-control partner. These results are only consistent with working memory models that allow for attentional processes to play a role in the explanation of the irrelevant sound effect. With repeated presentation the disruptive effect of one's own name decreased, whereas the disruptive effect of the auditory distractors in the control condition remained constant. The latter finding is most consistent with the duplex model of auditory attention, which assumes that the irrelevant sound effect is primarily caused by automatic interference of acoustic distractor features, but at the same time allows for a disruption of encoding due to attentional capture by unexpected deviants. However, to explain the present results, the mechanism responsible for the attentional capture has to be extended to highly (self-)relevant auditory distractors.
Sound effect is the important part of fantastical scene in ANIME, especially for girls ANIME. However the sound design method is still closed and not enough researched. Moreover, the recent digital ...sound design tools become to make 'American taste' sounds, not to fit for ANIME sound. In this paper, we propose the sound design testing tools in procedural way. Before the development, we survey more than 50 sounds from the scenes of emitting magic, changing the clothing, magical flying and so on in ANIME for girls. The attributes uncovered by the survey served as a basis of the parameters of developing tools. The tool is built with associated by a Unity and Supercollider. It enables to make and confirm the sounds for magical ANIME image elements interactively.
Sound is inextricably linked to the human senses and is therefore directly related to the general health of the individual. The aim of the present study is to collect data on the effect of two ...dimensions of sound, music, and noise from an emotional and functional point of view in the dental office and to perform a thorough review of the relevant literature. We collected articles from the databases PubMed and Google Scholar through keywords that were related to noise and music in healthcare. Important information was also extracted from articles on the web and official websites. Screening of the relevant literature was performed according to accuracy and reliability of the methodology tested. A total of 261 articles were associated to sound and music in healthcare. Ninety-six of them were the most well documented and were thus included in our article. Most of the articles associate noise with negative emotions and a negative impact on performance, while music is associated with positive emotions ranging from emotional state to therapeutic approaches. Few results were found regarding ways to reduce noise in a health facility. If there is a difficulty to find effective methods of reducing the daily noise-inducing sounds in the dental office, we must focus on ways to incorporate music into it as a means of relaxation and therapy.
Objective: An ecologically valid adaptation of the irrelevant sound effect paradigm was employed to examine the relative roles of short-term memory, selective attention, and sustained attention in ...ADHD. Method: In all, 32 adults with ADHD and 32 control participants completed a serial recall task in silence or while ignoring irrelevant background sound. Results: Serial recall performance in adults with ADHD was reduced relative to controls in both conditions. The degree of interference due to irrelevant sound was greater for adults with ADHD. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between task performance under conditions of irrelevant sound and the extent of attentional problems reported by patients on a clinical symptom scale. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that adults with ADHD exhibit impaired short-term memory and a low resistance to distraction; however, their capacity for sustained attention is preserved as the impact of irrelevant sound diminished over the course of the task.
The current research employed a classic irrelevant sound
effect paradigm and investigated the talker-specific content of the irrelevant
speech. Specifically, we aimed to determine if the ...participants'
familiarity with the irrelevant speech's talker affected the magnitude of
the irrelevant sound effect. Experiment 1 was an exploration of talker
familiarity established in a natural listening environment (i.e., a university
classroom) in which we manipulated the participants' relationships with
the talker. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the participants' familiarity
with the talker via 4 days of controlled exposure to the target talker's
audio recordings. For both Experiments 1 and 2, a robust effect of irrelevant
speech was found; however, regardless of the talker manipulation, talker
familiarity did not influence the size of the effect. We interpreted the results
within the processing view of the auditory distraction effect and highlighted
the notion that talker familiarity may be more vulnerable than once thought.
Although articulatory suppression abolishes the effect of irrelevant sound (ISE) on serial recall when sequences are presented visually, the effect persists with auditory presentation of list items. ...Two experiments were designed to test the claim that, when articulation is suppressed, the effect of irrelevant sound on the retention of auditory lists resembles a suffix effect. A suffix is a spoken word that immediately follows the final item in a list. Even though participants are told to ignore it, the suffix impairs serial recall of auditory lists. In Experiment
1
, the irrelevant sound consisted of instrumental music. The music generated a significant ISE that was abolished by articulatory suppression. It therefore appears that, when articulation is suppressed, irrelevant sound must contain speech for it to have any effect on recall. This is consistent with what is known about the suffix effect. In Experiment
2
, the effect of irrelevant sound under articulatory suppression was greater when the irrelevant sound was spoken by the same voice that presented the list items. This outcome is again consistent with the known characteristics of the suffix effect. It therefore appears that, when rehearsal is suppressed, irrelevant sound disrupts the acoustic-perceptual encoding of auditorily presented list items. There is no evidence that the persistence of the ISE under suppression is a result of interference to the representation of list items in a postcategorical phonological store.
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