TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring the subjective cost of listening effort using a discounting task
AU - McLaughlin, Drew J.
AU - Braver, Todd S.
AU - Peelle, Jonathan E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was conducted at and supported by Washington University in St. Louis. We are grateful to Jaida Dalton, Henry Greenstein, Olivia Murray, and Maggie Zink for assistance with data collection and scoring, and to Jennifer Crawford for her valuable input on the research design.
Funding Information:
This research was funded by Grants R01 DC014281 and R56 AG059265 (Principal Investigator: Jonathan E. Peelle) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to Drew J. McLaughlin (DGE-1745038).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Purpose: Objective measures of listening effort have been gaining prominence, as they provide metrics to quantify the difficulty of understanding speech under a variety of circumstances. A key challenge has been to develop paradigms that enable the complementary measurement of subjective listening effort in a quantitatively precise manner. In this study, we introduce a novel decision-making paradigm to examine age-related and individual differences in subjective effort during listening. Method: Older and younger adults were presented with spoken sentences mixed with speech-shaped noise at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). On each trial, subjects were offered the choice between completing an easier listening trial (presented at +20 dB SNR) for a smaller monetary reward and completing a harder listening trial (presented at either +4, 0, −4, −8, or −12 dB SNR) for a greater monetary reward. By varying the amount of the reward offered for the easier option, the subjective value of performing effortful listening trials at each SNR could be assessed. Results: Older adults discounted the value of effortful listening to a greater degree than young adults, opting to accept less money in order to avoid more difficult SNRs. Additionally, older adults with poorer hearing and smaller working memory capacities were more likely to choose easier trials; however, in younger adults, no relationship with hearing or working memory was found. Self-reported measures of economic status did not affect these relationships. Conclusions: These findings suggest that subjective listening effort depends on factors including, but not necessarily limited to, hearing and working memory. Additionally, this study demonstrates that economic decision-making paradigms can be a useful approach for assessing subjective listening effort and may prove beneficial in future research.
AB - Purpose: Objective measures of listening effort have been gaining prominence, as they provide metrics to quantify the difficulty of understanding speech under a variety of circumstances. A key challenge has been to develop paradigms that enable the complementary measurement of subjective listening effort in a quantitatively precise manner. In this study, we introduce a novel decision-making paradigm to examine age-related and individual differences in subjective effort during listening. Method: Older and younger adults were presented with spoken sentences mixed with speech-shaped noise at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). On each trial, subjects were offered the choice between completing an easier listening trial (presented at +20 dB SNR) for a smaller monetary reward and completing a harder listening trial (presented at either +4, 0, −4, −8, or −12 dB SNR) for a greater monetary reward. By varying the amount of the reward offered for the easier option, the subjective value of performing effortful listening trials at each SNR could be assessed. Results: Older adults discounted the value of effortful listening to a greater degree than young adults, opting to accept less money in order to avoid more difficult SNRs. Additionally, older adults with poorer hearing and smaller working memory capacities were more likely to choose easier trials; however, in younger adults, no relationship with hearing or working memory was found. Self-reported measures of economic status did not affect these relationships. Conclusions: These findings suggest that subjective listening effort depends on factors including, but not necessarily limited to, hearing and working memory. Additionally, this study demonstrates that economic decision-making paradigms can be a useful approach for assessing subjective listening effort and may prove beneficial in future research.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101744925&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00086
DO - 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00086
M3 - Article
C2 - 33439751
AN - SCOPUS:85101744925
SN - 1092-4388
VL - 64
SP - 337
EP - 347
JO - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
JF - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
IS - 2
ER -