Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools Vol.39 342-351 July 2008. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2008/032)
© American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrowCustom Print
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow My Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by McFadden, B.
Right arrow Articles by Pittman, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by McFadden, B.
Right arrow Articles by Pittman, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Delicious   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Articles

Effect of Minimal Hearing Loss on Children's Ability to Multitask in Quiet and in Noise

Brittany McFadden
Andrea Pittman
Arizona State University, Tempe

Contact author: Andrea Pittman, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 870102, Tempe, AZ 85287-0102. E-mail: andrea.pittman{at}asu.edu.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of minimal hearing loss (HL) on children's ability to perform simultaneous tasks in quiet and in noise.

Method: Ten children with minimal HL and 11 children with normal hearing (NH) participated. Both groups ranged in age from 8 to 12 years. The children categorized common words (primary task) while completing dot-to-dot games (secondary task) in quiet as well as in noise presented at 0 dB and +6 dB signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). It was hypothesized that the children's progression through the dot-to-dot games would slow as they encountered more difficult listening environments. This hypothesis was based on the theory that listeners have limited cognitive resources to allocate to any combination of tasks.

Results: The dot rate of both groups decreased similarly in the multitasking conditions relative to baseline. However, no other differences between groups or listening conditions were revealed. Significantly poorer word categorization was observed for the children with minimal HL in noise.

Conclusion: These data suggest that children with minimal HL may be unable to respond to a difficult listening task by drawing resources from other tasks to compensate.

KEY WORDS: children, hearing loss, listening effort, noise, multitasking


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Delicious Delicious   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 The Journal of School NursingHome page
C. Hendershot, L. A. Pakulski, A. Thompson, J. Dowling, and J. H. Price
School Nurses' Role in Identifying and Referring Children at Risk of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
The Journal of School Nursing, October 1, 2011; 27(5): 380 - 389.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JSLHRHome page
A. Pittman
Children's Performance in Complex Listening Conditions: Effects of Hearing Loss and Digital Noise Reduction
J Speech Lang Hear Res, August 1, 2011; 54(4): 1224 - 1239.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]