Institute Foundation Inc

REAL-TIME LEXICAL ACCESS AND SEMANTIC ACTIVATION DURING MASKED SPEECH RECOGNITION IN CHILDREN WITH NORMAL HEARING AND CHILDREN WITH HEARING AIDS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT BACKGROUND NOISE IS UBIQUITOUS IN CHILDREN’S EVERYDAY LISTENING AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND CAN BE DETRIMENTAL TO SPEECH RECOGNITION. EVEN WHEN MASKERS ARE NOT INTENSE ENOUGH TO REDUCE SPEECH RECOGNITION ACCURACY, CHILDREN’S LISTENING COMPREHENSION CAN SUFFER, ESPECIALLY AMONG CHILDREN WHO USE HEARING AIDS (HAS). A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR THIS IS THAT MASKERS MAY REDUCE CHILDREN’S REAL-TIME SPEECH PROCESSING EFFICIENCY, THEREBY IMPACTING COMPREHENSION. SPECIFICALLY, MASKERS MAY CAUSE DELAYED LEXICAL ACCESS (WORD FORM RECOGNITION) AND SEMANTIC ACTIVATION (WORD MEANING RECOGNITION), CAUSING CHILDREN TO STRUGGLE TO KEEP UP WITH CONTINUOUS SPEECH INPUT IN COMPLEX LISTENING ENVIRONMENTS. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL USE A VISUAL WORLD PARADIGM EYE-TRACKING TASK TO DIRECTLY EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF MASKING ON REAL-TIME SPEECH PROCESSING EFFICIENCY IN SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN WITH NORMAL HEARING (NH) AND CHILDREN WITH HAS. IN PARTICULAR, THE EFFECTS OF SPEECH-SHAPED NOISE AND TWO TALKER-SPEECH MASKERS WILL BE EXAMINED TO DISENTANGLE THE IMPACTS OF ENERGETIC AND INFORMATIONAL MASKING ON LEXICAL ACCESS AND SEMANTIC ACTIVATION SPEED. AIM 1 EXAMINES THE DEVELOPMENT OF REAL-TIME LEXICAL ACCESS AND SEMANTIC ACTIVATION WHILE LISTENING IN SPEECH-SHAPED NOISE AND TWO-TALKER SPEECH AMONG CHILDREN WITH NH. EYE-TRACKING DATA FROM CHILDREN AGES 7 TO 17 WILL BE COMPARED TO ADULT DATA TO DETERMINE THE DEVELOPMENTAL TRAJECTORY OF THE TWO REAL-TIME PROCESSES (LEXICAL ACCESS AND SEMANTIC ACTIVATION) IN THE TWO TYPES OF MASKERS (SPEECH-SHAPED NOISE AND TWO-TALKER SPEECH). AIM 2 WILL EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF PEDIATRIC HEARING LOSS ON REAL-TIME LEXICAL ACCESS AND SEMANTIC ACTIVATION WHILE LISTENING IN COMPETING MASKERS BY COMPARING THESE PROCESSES IN CHILDREN WITH HAS TO THOSE OF CHILDREN WITH NH. COGNITIVE SKILLS AND AUDITORY ACCESS FACTORS WILL ALSO BE EXAMINED AS POSSIBLE PREDICTORS OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN LEXICAL ACCESS AND SEMANTIC ACTIVATION DURING MASKED SPEECH RECOGNITION. THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM THIS STUDY WILL BE CRUCIAL FOR ENACTING GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM ACOUSTICS THAT PROMOTE EFFECTIVE LISTENING AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR ALL CHILDREN, AS WELL AS FOR IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING OF FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO CHILDREN’S NATURAL COMMUNICATION IN COMPLEX EVERYDAY CONTEXTS. FURTHERMORE, FINDINGS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE TARGETED INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE LISTENING AND LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION FOR CHILDREN WITH HAS. THIS STUDY WILL ADDRESS THE NIDCD MISSION TO SUPPORT RESEARCH IN THE NORMAL AND DISORDERED PROCESSES OF HEARING AND LANGUAGE.

PPHF2012: COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION GRANTS - SMALL COMMUNITIES PROGRAMS

EAT MORE FRUITS & VEGETABLES TO PREVENT HEART DISEASE: THE FOOD DESERT PROGRAM

TO TRANSLATE AND PUBLISH 1 000 COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING TWO BOOKS - (1) "PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND CONSOLIDATION IN SOUTHERN EUROPE SOUTH

TO SUPPORT A DESIGN STAGE OF THE RESTORATION AND RENOVATION OF THE PRESNALL-WATSON HOUSE, PART OF THE PRESNALL-WATSON HOMESTEAD HISTORIC DISTRICT IN

THE PROJECT AIMS AT IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF MEDIA COVERAGE AND ANALYSIS OF WAR, CONFLICT AND SECURITY ISSUES IN ARMENIA BASED ON U.S. PRACTICES

TO ENHANCE THE CAPACITY OF ARMENIAN YOUNGSTERS TO GET ENGAGED IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES

BUILD A PLATFORM FOR YOUNG ARMENIANS TO ENHANCE THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE NEW ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE.

TO GATHER, RECORD, ESTABLISH A REPOSITORY AND MAKE ACCESSIBLE THE ORAL HISTORIES OF INDIGENOUS ARMENIANS WHO WERE DISPLACED FROM NAGORNO-KARABAKH.

TO PROMOTE AND DEVELOP JAZZ MUSIC AMONGST YOUNG MUSICIANS AND MUSIC TEACHERS IN AUSTRALIA

ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON DOWN UNDER REGIONAL FESTIVAL

TO SUPPORT MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTS WORKSHOPS FOR UNDERSERVED YOUTH.

TO SUPPORT A VISUAL AND PERFORMANCE ARTS PROGRAM FOR YOUTH.

ESSENTIONALLY ELLINGTON DOWN UNDER REGIONAL FESTIVAL