Suprasegmental characteristics of spontaneous speech produced in good and challenging communicative conditions by younger and older adults

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2016-10, Vol.140 (4), p.3444-3444
• Main Authors: Tuomainen, Outi, Hazan, Valerie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4971112

Our study investigates strategies used to clarify our speech and compensate for masking effects when communicating in challenging listening conditions in older and younger adults. A total of 50 older (OA, 65-85 years, 30 F) and 23 younger adults (YA, 18-35 years, 14 F) were recorded (in “Talker A” role) while they completed the problem-solving diapix task with a young adult (“Talker B”) in four listening conditions: with no interference (NORM), when Talker B had a simulated hearing loss (HLS), Talker B heard babble (BAB1) or both heard babble (BAB2) noise. We measured articulation rate, fundamental frequency (f0) median and range, energy in 1-3 kHz band reflecting spectral tilt (ME1-3 kHz) for Talker A. In NORM, OAs were slower speakers and had lower ME1-3 kHz and wider f0 range than YAs. Median f0 also converged for men and women in OA talkers. In adverse conditions, YAs slowed down their speech (HLS) and increased the f0 range (BAB1 and BAB2) more than OAs, and OAs raised their median f0 more than YAs (BAB2). These results indicate that there are age-related changes in suprasegmental characteristics of spontaneous speech, and that OA talkers use different strategies than YA talkers to clarify their speech.