Bianchi Federica, Jonsson Sindri, Christiansen Torben, Ng Elaine Hoi Ning
Centre for Applied Audiology Research, Oticon A/S, Smørum, Denmark.
Technology Development, EPOS Group A/S, Ballerup, Denmark.
Trends Hear. 2025 Jan-Dec;29:23312165251367630. doi: 10.1177/23312165251367630. Epub 2025 Aug 14.
Although multitasking is a common everyday activity, it is often challenging. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of noise attenuation during an audio-visual dual task and investigate cognitive resource allocation over time via pupillometry. Twenty-six normal hearing participants performed a dual task consisting of a primary speech recognition task and a secondary visual reaction-time task, as well as a visual-only task. Four conditions were tested in the dual task: two speech levels (60- and 64-dB SPL) and two noise conditions ( with noise at 70 dB SPL condition with noise attenuated by passive damping). Elevated pupillary responses for the N condition relative to the A and visual-only conditions indicated that participants allocated additional resources on the primary task during the playback of the first part of the sentence, while reaction time to the secondary task increased significantly relative to the visual-only task. In the A condition, participants performed the secondary task with a similar reaction time relative to the visual-only task (no dual-task cost), while pupillary responses revealed allocation of resources on the primary task after completion of the secondary task. These findings reveal that the temporal dynamics of cognitive resource allocation between primary and secondary task were affected by the level of background noise in the primary task. This study demonstrates that noise attenuation, as offered for example by audio devices, frees up cognitive resources in noisy listening environments and may be beneficial to improve performance and decrease dual-task costs during multitasking.
尽管多任务处理是一项常见的日常活动，但它往往具有挑战性。本研究的目的是评估视听双重任务期间噪声衰减的效果，并通过瞳孔测量法研究认知资源随时间的分配情况。26名听力正常的参与者执行了一项双重任务，包括一个主要的语音识别任务和一个次要的视觉反应时间任务，以及一个仅视觉任务。在双重任务中测试了四种条件：两种语音水平（60分贝声压级和64分贝声压级）和两种噪声条件（在70分贝声压级的噪声条件下，噪声通过被动阻尼衰减）。与A条件和仅视觉条件相比，N条件下瞳孔反应升高表明，在句子第一部分播放期间，参与者在主要任务上分配了额外资源，而相对于仅视觉任务，对次要任务的反应时间显著增加。在A条件下，参与者执行次要任务的反应时间与仅视觉任务相似（无双重任务成本），而瞳孔反应显示在次要任务完成后在主要任务上分配了资源。这些发现表明，主要任务和次要任务之间认知资源分配的时间动态受到主要任务中背景噪声水平的影响。本研究表明，例如音频设备提供的噪声衰减在嘈杂的聆听环境中释放了认知资源，可能有利于提高多任务处理期间的表现并降低双重任务成本。
