Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Abstract
The current research employed a classic irrelevant sound effect paradigm and investigated the talker-specific content of the irrelevant speech. Specifically, we aimed to determine if the participants' familiarity with the irrelevant speech's talker affected the magnitude of the irrelevant sound effect. Experiment 1 was an exploration of talker familiarity established in a natural listening environment (i.e., a university classroom) in which we manipulated the participants' relationships with the talker. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the participants' familiarity with the talker via 4 days of controlled exposure to the target talker's audio recordings. For both Experiments 1 and 2, a robust effect of irrelevant speech was found; however, regardless of the talker manipulation, talker familiarity did not influence the size of the effect. We interpreted the results within the processing view of the auditory distraction effect and highlighted the notion that talker familiarity may be more vulnerable than once thought.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Experimental Psychology
First Page
1
Last Page
11
Recommended Citation
Barker, B., & Elliott, E. (2019). The Role of Talker Familiarity in Auditory Distraction. Experimental Psychology, 66 (1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000425