The Effect of Breathy Vocal Quality on Speech Intelligibility and Listening Effort in Background Noise

Abstract

Speech perception is challenging under adverse conditions. However, there is limited evidence regarding how multiple adverse conditions affect speech perception. The present study investigated two conditions that are frequently encountered in real-life communication: background noise and breathy vocal quality. The study first examined the effects of background noise and breathiness on speech perception as measured by intelligibility. Secondly, the study tested the hypothesis that both noise and breathiness affect listening effort, as indicated by linear and nonlinear changes in pupil dilation. Low-context sentences were resynthesized to create three levels of breathiness (original, mild-moderate, and severe). The sentences were presented in a fluctuating nonspeech noise with two signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of −5 dB (favorable) and −9 dB (adverse) SNR. Speech intelligibility and pupil dilation data were collected from young listeners with normal hearing thresholds. The results demonstrated that a breathy vocal quality presented in noise negatively affected speech intelligibility, with the degree of breathiness playing a critical role. Listening effort, as measured by the magnitude of pupil dilation, showed significant effects with both severe and mild-moderate breathy voices that were independent of noise level. The findings contributed to the literature by demonstrating the impact of vocal quality on the perception of speech in noise. They also highlighted the complex dynamics between overall task demand and processing resources in understanding the combined impact of multiple adverse conditions.