Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Oregon State University, Corvallis.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2024 Jun 6;67(6):1964-1975. doi: 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00627. Epub 2024 May 1.
There is increasing interest in the measurement of cognitive effort during listening tasks, for both research and clinical purposes. Quantification of task-evoked pupil responses (TEPRs) is a psychophysiological method that can be used to study cognitive effort. However, light level during cognitively demanding listening tasks may affect TEPRs, complicating interpretation of listening-related changes. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of light level on TEPRs during effortful listening across a range of signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).
Thirty-six adults without hearing loss were asked to repeat target sentences presented in background babble noise while their pupil diameter was recorded. Light level and SNRs were manipulated in a 4 × 4 repeated-measures design. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to measure the effects.
Peak and mean dilation were typically larger in more adverse SNR conditions (except for SNR -6 dB) and smaller in higher light levels. Differences in mean and peak dilation between SNR conditions were larger in dim light than in brighter light.
Brighter light conditions make TEPRs less sensitive to variations in listening effort across levels of SNR. Therefore, light level must be considered and reported in detail to ensure sensitivity of TEPRs and for comparisons of findings across different studies. It is recommended that TEPR testing be conducted in relatively low light conditions, considering both background illumination and screen luminance.
在研究和临床目的中，人们对听力任务中认知努力的测量越来越感兴趣。量化任务诱发的瞳孔反应（TEPRs）是一种可用于研究认知努力的心理生理方法。然而，在认知要求高的听力任务期间，光水平可能会影响 TEPRs，从而使与听力相关的变化的解释复杂化。本研究的目的是检查在一系列信噪比（SNR）范围内，光水平对努力听力时 TEPRs 的影响。
36 名无听力损失的成年人被要求在背景嘈杂声中重复目标句子，同时记录他们的瞳孔直径。光水平和 SNR 以 4×4 重复测量设计进行操纵。使用重复测量方差分析来测量影响。
在更不利的 SNR 条件下（除 SNR-6 dB 外），峰值和平均扩张通常更大，在更高的光水平下更小。在较暗的光线下，平均和峰值扩张之间的差异在 SNR 条件之间的差异大于在较亮的光线下。
较亮的光条件使 TEPRs 对 SNR 水平变化的听力努力的敏感性降低。因此，必须详细考虑和报告光水平，以确保 TEPRs 的敏感性，并在不同研究之间进行发现的比较。建议在相对低的光条件下进行 TEPR 测试，同时考虑背景照明和屏幕亮度。
