title: Individual differences in language and working memory affect children's speech recognition in noise.
abstract: We examined how cognitive and linguistic skills affect speech recognition in noise for children with normal hearing. Children with better working memory and language abilities were expected to have better speech recognition in noise than peers with poorer skills in these domains.
  
  
  
  As part of a prospective, cross-sectional study, children with normal hearing completed speech recognition in noise for three types of stimuli: (1) monosyllabic words, (2) syntactically correct but semantically anomalous sentences and (3) semantically and syntactically anomalous word sequences. Measures of vocabulary, syntax and working memory were used to predict individual differences in speech recognition in noise.
  
  
  
  Ninety-six children with normal hearing, who were between 5 and 12 years of age.
  
  
  
  Higher working memory was associated with better speech recognition in noise for all three stimulus types. Higher vocabulary abilities were associated with better recognition in noise for sentences and word sequences, but not for words.
  
  
  
  Working memory and language both influence children's speech recognition in noise, but the relationships vary across types of stimuli. These findings suggest that clinical assessment of speech recognition is likely to reflect underlying cognitive and linguistic abilities, in addition to a child's auditory skills, consistent with the Ease of Language Understanding model.
authors.affiliation: a Audibility, Perception and Cognition Laboratory , Boys Town National Research Hospital , Omaha , NE , USA and.
authors.forename: Ryan W
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0733-7269
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCreery
authors.affiliation: a Audibility, Perception and Cognition Laboratory , Boys Town National Research Hospital , Omaha , NE , USA and.
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spratford
authors.affiliation: b Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders , Illinois State University , Normal , IL , USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kirby
authors.affiliation: a Audibility, Perception and Cognition Laboratory , Boys Town National Research Hospital , Omaha , NE , USA and.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6961-7584
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brennan
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000367:Age Factors; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Behavioural measures; noise; paediatric; psychoacoustics/hearing science; speech perception