Cognitive effort in school-aged children

Abstract

Sustained cognitive demands from effortful listening may compromise the well-being and learning of school-aged children. It is well-assessed that performing a speech perception task in challenging acoustic conditions (e.g. presence of background noise, too much reverberation) increases the children's effort, due to the need for exploiting additional cognitive resources. However, less is known about the effects of such unfavorable listening conditions on effort concerning tasks that better resemble actual learning activities, and rely on domain-specific skills. This study aimed to investigate the effect of listening conditions on cognitive effort (behavioral and subjective) in primary school children concerning maths. A total of 121 children aged between 8 and 11 years performed a math facts task in quiet and in the presence of a two-talker noise (signal-to-noise ratio: +1 dB). Individual inhibitory skills and noise sensitivity were also assessed in quiet, on the account that they might influence the effect of the listening conditions on the task. Results will help in understanding the mechanisms underpinning effort in school-aged children, thus promoting the acoustic design of more inclusive spaces and informing intervention strategies.