Immediate Passage Comprehension and Encoding of Information Into Long-Term Memory in Children With Normal Hearing: The Effect of Voice Quality and Multitalker Babble Noise

Purpose: This study examines how voice quality and multitalker babble noise affect immediate passage comprehension and the efficiency of information encoding into long-term memory in children with normal hearing.Method: Eighteen children (mean age = 9 years) with normal hearing participated. Immediate passage comprehension performance and delayed performance (after 5 to 8 days) were assessed for 4 listening conditions: a typical voice in quiet, a typical voice in noise, a dysphonic voice in quiet, and a dysphonic voice in noise.Results: Multitalker babble noise had a significant effect on immediate and delayed performance. This effect was more pronounced for delayed performance. No significant main effect of voice quality was seen on immediate or delayed performance.Conclusions: Multitalker babble noise impairs immediate passage comprehension and encoding of information into long-term memory for later recall in children with normal hearing. In learning situations where competing speech signals are present, background noise may reduce the prerequisites for optimal learning.