Pupillometry reveals differences in cognitive demands of listening to face mask-attenuated speech
Date
2023Author
Carraturo, Sita
McLaughlin, Drew J.
Peelle, Jonathan E.
Van Engen, Kristin J.
Metadata
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Sita Carraturo, Drew J. McLaughlin, Jonathan E. Peelle, Kristin J. Van Engen; Pupillometry reveals differences in cognitive demands of listening to face mask-attenuated speech. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 December 2023; 154 (6): 3973–3985. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0023953
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Abstract
Face masks offer essential protection but also interfere with speech communication. Here, audio-only sentences spoken through four types of masks were presented in noise to young adult listeners. Pupil dilation (an index of cognitive demand), intelligibility, and subjective effort and performance ratings were collected. Dilation increased in response to each mask relative to the no-mask condition and differed significantly where acoustic attenuation was most prominent. These results suggest that the acoustic impact of the mask drives not only the intelligibility of speech, but also the cognitive demands of listening. Subjective effort ratings reflected the same trends as the pupil data.