Speech recognition in noisy environments can be challenging and requires listeners to accurately segregate a target speaker from irrelevant background noise. Stochastic figure-ground (SFG) tasks in which temporally coherent inharmonic pure-tones must be identified from a background have been used to probe the non-linguistic auditory stream segregation processes important for speech-in-noise processing. However, little is known about the relationship between performance on SFG tasks and speech-in-noise tasks nor the individual differences that may modulate such relationships. In this study, 37 younger normal-hearing adults performed an SFG task with target figure chords consisting of four, six, eight, or ten temporally coherent tones amongst a background of randomly varying tones. Stimuli were designed to be spectrally and temporally flat. An increased number of temporally coherent tones resulted in higher accuracy and faster reaction times (RTs). For ten target tones, faster RTs were associated with better scores on the Quick Speech-in-Noise task. Individual differences in working memory capacity and self-reported musicianship further modulated these relationships. Overall, results demonstrate that the SFG task could serve as an assessment of auditory stream segregation accuracy and RT that is sensitive to individual differences in cognitive and auditory abilities, even among younger normal-hearing adults.
The effectiveness of three types of in-vehicle warnings was assessed in a driving simulator across different noise conditions.
Although there has been much research comparing different types of warnings in auditory displays and interfaces, many of these investigations have been conducted in quiet laboratory environments with little to no consideration of background noise. Furthermore, the suitability of some auditory warning types, such as spearcons, as car warnings has not been investigated.
Two experiments were conducted to assess the effectiveness of three auditory warnings (spearcons, text-to-speech, auditory icons) with different types of background noise while participants performed a simulated driving task.
Our results showed that both the nature of the background noise and the type of auditory warning influenced warning recognition accuracy and reaction time. Spearcons outperformed text-to-speech warnings in relatively quiet environments, such as in the baseline noise condition where no music or talk-radio was played. However, spearcons were not better than text-to-speech warnings with other background noises. Similarly, the effectiveness of auditory icons as warnings fluctuated across background noise, but, overall, auditory icons were the least efficient of the three warning types.
Our results supported that background noise can have an idiosyncratic effect on a warning’s effectiveness and illuminated the need for future research into ameliorating the effects of background noise.
This research can be applied to better present warnings based on the anticipated auditory environment in which they will be communicated.
- PAR ID:
- 10546685
- Publisher / Repository:
- SAGE Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
- Volume:
- 63
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0018-7208
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 312-335
- Size(s):
- p. 312-335
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Objective This study examined the impact of monitoring instructions when using an automated driving system (ADS) and road obstructions on post take-over performance in near-miss scenarios.
Background Past research indicates partial ADS reduces the driver’s situation awareness and degrades post take-over performance. Connected vehicle technology may alert drivers to impending hazards in time to safely avoid near-miss events.
Method Forty-eight licensed drivers using ADS were randomly assigned to either the active driving or passive driving condition. Participants navigated eight scenarios with or without a visual obstruction in a distributed driving simulator. The experimenter drove the other simulated vehicle to manually cause near-miss events. Participants’ mean longitudinal velocity, standard deviation of longitudinal velocity, and mean longitudinal acceleration were measured.
Results Participants in passive ADS group showed greater, and more variable, deceleration rates than those in the active ADS group. Despite a reliable audiovisual warning, participants failed to slow down in the red-light running scenario when the conflict vehicle was occluded. Participant’s trust in the automated driving system did not vary between the beginning and end of the experiment.
Conclusion Drivers interacting with ADS in a passive manner may continue to show increased and more variable deceleration rates in near-miss scenarios even with reliable connected vehicle technology. Future research may focus on interactive effects of automated and connected driving technologies on drivers’ ability to anticipate and safely navigate near-miss scenarios.
Application Designers of automated and connected vehicle technologies may consider different timing and types of cues to inform the drivers of imminent hazard in high-risk scenarios for near-miss events.
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Abstract Online testing for behavioral research has become an increasingly used tool. Although more researchers have been using online data collection methods, few studies have assessed the replicability of findings for speech intelligibility tasks. Here we assess intelligibility in quiet and two noise-added conditions for several different accents of English (Midland American, Standard Southern British, Scottish, German-accented, Mandarin-accented, Japanese-accented, and Hindi-English bilingual). Participants were tested in person at a museum-based laboratory and online. Results showed little to no difference between the two settings for the easier noise condition and in quiet, but large performance differences in the most difficult noise condition with an advantage for the participants tested online. Technology-based variables did not appear to drive the setting effect, but experimenter presence may have influenced response strategy for the in-person group and differences in demographics could have provided advantages for the online group. Additional research should continue to investigate how setting, demographic factors, experimenter presence, and motivational factors interact to determine performance in speech perception experiments.
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