Presenting and processing information in background noise: A combined speaker–listener perspective

Bockstael, Annelies; Samyn, Laurie; Corthals, Paul; Botteldooren, Dick · 2018 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1121/1.5020799

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates the complex interaction between speakers and listeners during oral information transfer in the presence of background noise. While previous research has largely focused on listener intelligibility, this work adopts a combined speaker–listener perspective to assess how different noise types affect both the presentation of information by the speaker and its acquisition by the listener. The research was motivated by the need for ecologically valid experimental designs that mimic real-life communication challenges, where background noise impacts not only speech intelligibility but also cognitive load, listening effort, and speaker fluency. The experimental design involved 60 Dutch-speaking participants working in pairs to transfer documentary-style scientific lectures. The study utilized four background noise conditions: quiet, unintelligible multitalker babble, fluctuating city street noise, and little-varying highway noise. Noise levels were standardized at 70 dB(A). The primary task for both participants was to focus on the lecture content, assessed via a post-test exam. To measure listening effort, listeners performed a concurrent secondary visual task involving memory of colored squares, with response duration serving as the metric. Speaker effort and cognitive load were assessed by analyzing hesitation phenomena and disfluencies (e.g., repetitions, corrections, pauses) in recorded speech using Praat software. Statistical analysis employed mixed-model linear regression to evaluate the effects of noise type, participant interest, and role on exam scores, secondary task duration, and disfluency duration. The results indicated that background noise type did not significantly affect the final exam scores for either speakers or listeners; however, speakers consistently scored higher than listeners, and higher interest in the topic correlated with better performance. Regarding listening effort, the fluctuating city street noise condition proved the most difficult, resulting in significantly longer response times for the secondary visual task compared to quiet, highway, and babble conditions. Conversely, speaker fluency was affected differently: disfluency duration was significantly shorter in the fluctuating city street noise condition compared to quiet and highway noise, suggesting that speakers increased their concentration or effort to maintain speech clarity in this challenging environment. A negative correlation was found between disfluency duration and exam score differences, indicating that increased speaker hesitation leads to greater information loss during transfer. The significance of these findings lies in demonstrating that background noise affects speakers and listeners through distinct mechanisms. While listeners experience increased cognitive effort in fluctuating noise environments, speakers may adapt by reducing disfluencies, potentially at the cost of increased mental load. The study highlights that fluctuating, eventful noise is particularly disruptive to listening effort, whereas unintelligible babble and steady highway noise had less impact on secondary task performance. These results underscore the importance of considering both speaker adaptation and listener effort in designing acoustic environments for education and communication, as well as the value of ecologically valid dual-task paradigms in assessing real-world speech processing.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• auditory