title: Robust relationship between reading span and speech recognition in noise.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Working memory refers to a cognitive system that manages information processing and temporary storage. Recent work has demonstrated that individual differences in working memory capacity measured using a reading span task are related to ability to recognize speech in noise. In this project, we investigated whether the specific implementation of the reading span task influenced the strength of the relationship between working memory capacity and speech recognition.
  
  
  METHODS
  The relationship between speech recognition and working memory capacity was examined for two different working memory tests that varied in approach, using a within-subject design. Data consisted of audiometric results along with the two different working memory tests; one speech-in-noise test; and a reading comprehension test.
  
  
  METHODS
  The test group included 94 older adults with varying hearing loss and 30 younger adults with normal hearing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Listeners with poorer working memory capacity had more difficulty understanding speech in noise after accounting for age and degree of hearing loss. That relationship did not differ significantly between the two different implementations of reading span.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that different implementations of a verbal reading span task do not affect the strength of the relationship between working memory capacity and speech recognition.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Knowles Hearing Center , Northwestern University , Evanston, Illinois , USA.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: b Department of Speech , Language and Hearing Sciences, University of Colorado , Boulder, Colorado , USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arehart
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D003120:Colorado; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D011932:Reading; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception
keywords: Hearing; age; cognition; working memory