Reverberation exacerbates effects of interruption on auditory spatial selective attention

TL;DR

This study shows that reverberation makes it harder to focus on sounds after unexpected interruptions, worsening spatial auditory attention.

Contribution

The paper reveals that reverberation amplifies the negative impact of interruptions on auditory memory and attention.

Findings

Interrupters consistently impaired recall of syllables, especially those immediately following the interruption.

Reverberation increased the disruption caused by interruptions compared to anechoic conditions.

The effect was most pronounced for syllables directly after the interruption in reverberant settings.

Abstract

Everyday listening requires focusing on one talker while ignoring competing sounds, a process challenged by reverberation and unexpected distractions. Here, we asked whether reverberation decreases effects of distractions by reducing the salience of new onsets, or compounds disruption by increasing task difficulty. Across five online experiments, participants recalled spatialized syllable streams presented with or without interrupters under pseudo-anechoic and reverberant conditions. Interrupters consistently impaired recall, especially the syllables following the interrupter. For the syllable immediately after the interruption, this effect was larger in reverberation than in anechoic conditions. These results demonstrate that distractions are especially disruptive in reverberant settings.

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