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Comparative Study
. 2017 May;141(5):EL470.
doi: 10.1121/1.4983399.

The effect of visual distraction on auditory-visual speech perception by younger and older listeners

Julie I Cohen  1 , Sandra Gordon-Salant  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

The effect of visual distraction on auditory-visual speech perception by younger and older listeners

Julie I Cohen et al. J Acoust Soc Am. 2017 May.

Abstract

Visual distractions are present in real-world listening environments, such as conversing in a crowded restaurant. This study examined the impact of visual distractors on younger and older adults' ability to understand auditory-visual (AV) speech in noise. AV speech stimuli were presented with one competing talker and with three different types of visual distractors. SNR50 thresholds for both listener groups were affected by visual distraction; the poorest performance for both groups was the AV + Video condition, and differences across groups were noted for some conditions. These findings suggest that older adults may be more susceptible to irrelevant auditory and visual competition in a real-world environment.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Average pure-tone hearing threshold levels (dB HL) of the test ear for the younger and older listener groups. Error bars represent ± 1 standard deviation of the mean.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Mean SNR50 thresholds for the younger and older listening groups in the A-only and AV-only conditions. Error bars represent ±1 standard error of the mean.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Mean SNR50 thresholds for the younger and older listening groups across the AV distractor conditions, including the AV-only baseline measure. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error of the mean.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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