Effects of noise and audiovisual cues on speech processing in adults with and without ADHD.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the interplay among internal (e.g. attention, working memory abilities) and external (e.g. background noise, visual information) factors in individuals with and without ADHD.


METHODS
A 2 × 2 × 6 mixed design with correlational analyses was used to compare participant results on a standardized listening in noise sentence repetition task (QuickSin; Killion et al, 2004 ), presented in an auditory and an audiovisual condition as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) varied from 25-0 dB and to determine individual differences in working memory capacity and short-term recall.


METHODS
Thirty-eight young adults without ADHD and twenty-five young adults with ADHD.


RESULTS
Diagnosis, modality, and signal-to-noise ratio all affected the ability to process speech in noise. The interaction between the diagnosis of ADHD, the presence of visual cues, and the level of noise had an effect on a person's ability to process speech in noise. conclusion: Young adults with ADHD benefited less from visual information during noise than young adults without ADHD, an effect influenced by working memory abilities.
* Department of Communication Disorders & Special Education, Old Dominion University , Norfolk, Virginia , USA.
Anne M P
AM
Michalek
Silvana M
SM
Watson
Ivan
I
Ash
Stacie
S
Ringleb
Anastasia
A
Raymer
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult