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Purpose: Maturation of the ability to recognize target speech in the presence of a two-talker speech masker extends into early adolescence. This study evaluated whether children benefit from differences in fundamental frequency (f[subscript o]) contour depth between the target and masker speech, a cue that has been shown to improve recognition in adults. Method: Speech stimuli were recorded from talkers using three speaking styles, with f[subscript o] contour depths that were Flat, Normal, or Exaggerated. Targets were open-set, declarative sentences produced by a female talker, and maskers were two streams of concatenated sentences produced by a second female talker. Listeners were children (ages 5-17 years) and adults (ages 18-24 years) with normal hearing. Each listener was tested in one of the three masker styles paired with all three target styles. Speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) corresponding to 50% correct were estimated by fitting psychometric functions to adaptive track data. Results: For adults, performance did not differ significantly across conditions with matched speaking styles. A mismatch benefit was observed when combining Flat targets with the Exaggerated masker and Exaggerated targets with the Flat masker, and for both Flat and Exaggerated targets paired with the Normal masker. For children, there was a significant effect of age in all conditions. Flat targets in the Flat masker were associated with lower SRTs than the other two matched conditions, and a mismatch benefit was observed for young children only when the target f[subscript o] contour was less variable than the masker f[subscript o] contour. Conclusions: Whereas child-directed speech often has exaggerated pitch contours, young children were better able to recognize speech with less variable f[subscript o]. Age effects were observed in the benefit of mismatched speaking styles for some conditions, which could be related to differences in baseline SRTs rather than differences in segregation abilities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the independent and combined contributions of fundamental frequency (F0) and vocal tract length (VTL) differences on children's speech-in-speech recognition in the presence of a competing two-talker masker. Method: Participants were 64 children (5-17 years old) and 25 adults (18-39 years old). Sentence recognition thresholds were measured in a two-talker masker. Target sentences had either the same mean F0 and VTL of the masker or were digitally altered so that the target and masker differed in F0 (Experiment 1), differed in VTL (Experiment 2), or differed in both F0 and VTL (Experiment 3). To determine the benefit, masking release was computed by subtracting thresholds in each shifted condition from the threshold in the unshifted condition. Results: Results demonstrate that children's ability to benefit from either F0 or VTL differences (Experiments 1 and 2) depended on listener age, with younger children showing less improvement in speech reception thresholds compared to older children and adults. Age effects were also evident in the combined-cue conditions (Experiment 3), but children showed greater improvements compared to F0-only or VTL-only manipulations. Conclusions: There was a prolonged pattern of development in children's ability to benefit from F0 or VTL differences between target and masker speech. Young children failed to capitalize on F0 and VTL differences to the same extent as older children and adults but did show a robust benefit when the cues were combined, supporting the hypothesis that younger children rely more heavily on redundant cues compared to older children and adults.

Purpose: The goal was to evaluate whether implicit talker familiarization via an interactive computer game, designed for this study, could improve children's word recognition in classroom noise. It was hypothesized that, regardless of age, children would perform better when recognizing words spoken by the talker who was heard during the game they played. Method: Using a one-group pretest--posttest experimental design, this study examined the impact of short-term implicit voice exposure on children's word recognition in classroom noise. Implicit voice familiarization occurred via an interactive computer game, played at home for 10 min a day for 5 days. In the game, children (8-12 years) heard one voice, intended to become the "familiar talker." Pre- and postfamiliarization, children identified words in prerecorded classroom noise. Four conditions were tested to evaluate talker familiarity and generalization effects. Results: Results demonstrated an 11% improvement when recognizing words spoken by the voice heard in the game ("familiar talker"). This was observed only for words that were heard in the game and did not generalize to unfamiliarized words. Before familiarization, younger children had poorer recognition than older children in all conditions; however, after familiarization, there was no effect of age on performance for familiarized stimuli. Conclusions: Implicit short-term exposure to a talker has the potential to improve children's speech recognition. Therefore, leveraging talker familiarity through gameplay shows promise as a viable method for improving children's speech-in-noise recognition. However, given that improvements did not generalize to unfamiliarized words, careful consideration of exposure stimuli is necessary to optimize this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the effects of different face masks on school-age children's and young adults' word recognition. Speech recognition thresholds were measured adaptively in a two-talker speech masker using a closed-set picture pointing task. Target words were recorded by a female talker in five conditions: no mask, transparent mask, face shield, N95 mask and surgical mask. Thirty children (8–12 years) and 25 adults (18–25 years) with normal hearing. Both children's and adults' word recognition was most negatively impacted by the face shield. Children's recognition was also impaired by the transparent mask. No negative effects were observed for the N95 or surgical mask for either age group. School-age children, like young adults, are negatively affected by face masks when recognising speech in a two-talker speech masker, but the effects depend on the type of face mask being worn. Acoustic analyses suggest that the reflective materials used for masks impact speech signal quality and impair word recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Due to the elevated vocal risks of university professors and the possible relationship between auditory-motor integration and voice disorders, the current study was designed to explore the effects of altered auditory feedback via bone conduction on voice production measures in university professors., Methods: A total of 43 hours of voice recordings across 32 university classes were collected from two vocally healthy college professors through voice dosimetry. During their classes, the professors experienced either the real-time altered auditory feedback or a condition without altered auditory feedback. The voice dosimetry recordings from all classes were processed to calculate the sound pressure level values, fundamental frequency values, and the time dose. The effects of the altered auditory feedback conditions on these voice acoustic parameters were analyzed and compared with the conditions without altered auditory feedback., Results: The altered auditory feedback conditions resulted in significantly decreased sound pressure level values and time dose for both professors when comparing the altered auditory feedback conditions to the conditions without altered auditory feedback. The altered auditory feedback effects were larger for the male professor compared with the female professor. Additionally, the male professor demonstrated significantly decreased fundamental frequency values when comparing the altered auditory feedback conditions to the conditions without altered auditory feedback, while the female professor did not., Conclusions: This study provides evidence that altered auditory feedback provided via bone conduction through an altered auditory feedback device resulted in statistically significant improvements in the voices of two college professors., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships that may be considered as potential competing interests: Pasquale Bottalico reports equipment, drugs, or supplies were provided by SOUND FOR LIFE. In particular, the device Forbrain was provided free of charge by SOUND FOR LIFE. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)