Work

Culturally and linguistically diverse children’s retention of spoken narratives encoded in quiet and in babble noise

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: • Children engaged in repeated recall of narratives encoded in quiet and in noise. • Immediate recall was better for narratives encoded in quiet than in noise. • One week later, recall accuracy was similar for both listening conditions. • School language (Swedish) exposure and working memory was linked to recall accuracy. • Individual differences did not account for variations in recall accuracy over time. Multi-talker noise impedes children’s speech processing and may affect children listening to their second language more than children listening to their first language. Evidence suggests that multi-talker noise also may impede children’s memory retention and learning. A total of 80 culturally and linguistically diverse children aged 7 to 9 years listened to narratives in two listening conditions: quiet and multi-talker noise (signal-to-noise ratio +6 dB). Repeated recall (immediate and delayed recall), was measured with a 1-week retention interval. Retention was calculated as the difference in recall accuracy per question between immediate and delayed recall. Working memory capacity was assessed, and the children’s degree of school language (Swedish) exposure was quantified. Immediate narrative recall was lower for the narrative encoded in noise than in quiet. During delayed recall, narrative recall was similar for both listening conditions. Children with higher degrees of school language exposure and higher working memory capacity had better narrative recall overall, but these factors were not associated with an effect of listening condition or retention. Multi-talker babble noise does not impair culturally and linguistically diverse primary school children’s retention of spoken narratives as measured by multiple-choice questions. Although a quiet listening condition allows for a superior encoding compared with a noisy listening condition, details are likely lost during memory consolidation and re-consolidation.

Source: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106088

Authors: Johanna Carlie, Birgitta Sahlén, Ketty Andersson, Roger Johansson, Susanna Whitling, K. Jonas Brännström

Institution: Lund University

Language: English

Topic: Language Development and Disorders

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,340