Communicating with elders: effects of speaker-listener distance.
As the distance between two communicators increases, weaker sounds of speech become inaudible, conversation becomes more difficult and there is a greater need to resolve communication difficulties. This study investigated the effects of distance on face-to-face social conversation by 27 older adults with hearing impairment, under three listening conditions (without amplification, with personal hearing aids, with a small portable amplifier). Each participant was rated on a 1-5 scale of conversational fluency at distances between 0.5 and 3.0 metres. Results indicate that the subjects conversed more fluently with amplification and at short communication distances. Use of a portable amplifier resulted in high conversational fluency regardless of distance.
Erber
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NP
School of Human Communication Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
Holland
J
J
Osborn
R R
RR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male