The influence of voice quality and multi-talker babble noise on sentence processing and recall performance in school children using cochlear implant and/or hearing aids

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the influence of voice quality and multi-talker babble noise on processing and storage performance in a working memory task performed by children using cochlear implants (CI) and/or hearing aids (HA). Methods: Twenty-three children with a hearing impairment using CI and/or HA participated. Age range was between 6 and 13 years. The Competing Language Processing Task (CLPT) was assessed in three listening conditions; a typical voice presented in quiet, a dysphonic voice in quiet, and a typical voice in multi-talker babble noise (signal-to-noise ratio +10 dB). Being a dual task, the CLPT consists of a sentence processing component and a recall component. The recall component constitutes the measure of working memory capacity (WMC). Higher-level executive function was assessed using Elithorn's mazes. Results: The results showed that the dysphonic voice did not affect performance in the processing component or performance in the recall component. Multi-talker babble noise decreased performance in the recall component but not in the processing component. Higher-level executive function was not significantly related to performance in any component. Conclusions: The findings indicate that multi-talker babble noise, but not a dysphonic voice quality, seems to put strain on WMC in children using CI and/or HA.

Keywords:

• Children
• hearing impairment
• working memory
• voice quality
• dysphonic voice multi-talker babble noise

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the participating children, the Swedish Organisation for Children with Cochlear Implants or Hearing Aids (Barnplantorna), and the staff at the participating schools.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed by the Hearing Foundation (Hörselfonden – Hörselskadades Riksförbund).

Notes on contributors

K. Jonas Brännström

K. Jonas Brännström is an associate professor in audiology and a licenced audiologist, Department of Clinical Science Lund, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Heike von Lochow

Heike von Lochow, MSc in audiology, is a licenced audiologist, Department of Clinical Science Lund, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Viveka Lyberg-Åhlander

Viveka Lyberg-Åhlander is an associate professor in speech and language pathology and licenced speech and language pathologist, Department of Clinical Science Lund, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Birgitta Sahlén

Birgitta Sahlén is a full professor in speech and language pathology and a licenced speech and language pathologist, Department of Clinical Science Lund, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.