Westerhausen René, Bless Josef J, Passow Susanne, Kompus Kristiina, Hugdahl Kenneth
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo.
Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen.
Dev Psychol. 2015 Jun;51(6):806-15. doi: 10.1037/dev0000014. Epub 2015 Mar 30.
The ability to use cognitive-control functions to regulate speech perception is thought to be crucial in mastering developmental challenges, such as language acquisition during childhood or compensation for sensory decline in older age, enabling interpersonal communication and meaningful social interactions throughout the entire life span. Although previous studies indicate that cognitive control of speech perception is subject to developmental changes, its exact developmental trajectory has not been described. Thus, examining a sample of 2,988 participants (1,119 women) with an age range from 5 to 89 years, the aim of the present cross-sectional study was to examine the development of cognitive control of speech perception across the life span using age as continuous predictor. Based on data collected with the forced-attention consonant-vowel dichotic listening paradigm, the data analysis revealed an inverted U-shaped association of age and performance level: A steep increase in performance level was seen throughout childhood and adolescence, reaching highest performance in the early 20s, and was followed by a monotonous, continuous decline into late adulthood. Thus, cognitive control of speech perceptions shows similar life span developmental trajectories as observed regarding cognitive-control functions in other domains, for example, as assessed in the visual domain.
运用认知控制功能来调节言语感知的能力，被认为在应对发育挑战方面至关重要，比如儿童时期的语言习得，或老年时对感官衰退的补偿，从而使人在整个生命周期中都能进行人际交流和有意义的社会互动。尽管先前的研究表明，言语感知的认知控制会经历发育变化，但其确切的发育轨迹尚未得到描述。因此，本横断面研究以2988名参与者（1119名女性）为样本，年龄范围从5岁到89岁，旨在以年龄作为连续预测变量，研究言语感知认知控制在整个生命周期中的发展情况。基于使用强制注意力辅音-元音双耳分听范式收集的数据，数据分析揭示了年龄与表现水平之间呈倒U形关联：在整个童年和青少年时期，表现水平急剧上升，在20岁出头时达到最高水平，随后在成年后期出现单调持续下降。因此，言语感知的认知控制显示出与其他领域认知控制功能类似的生命周期发展轨迹，例如在视觉领域所评估的那样。
