Listening hard: new tools for monitoring effort in listening to speech in noise
Listening hard: new tools for monitoring effort in listening to speech in noise
Listening effort refers to the cognitive exertion required to understand auditory information, particularly in challenging environments. Excessive effort can negatively affect communication, well-being, and cognitive function, especially in individuals with hearing loss or older adults. However, defining and measuring listening effort remains complex, as subjective reports, behavioural performance, and physiological indices often diverge, and substantial individual variability exists in how listeners respond to auditory challenges. Existing theoretical frameworks like the Framework for Understanding Effortful Listening (FUEL) and the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model highlight the interplay of cognitive resources, task demands, and listener factors, but a deeper understanding of the dynamic physiological mechanisms and individual response patterns is still needed.
University of Southampton
Wang, Xiaoxue
8d5fe507-5408-4c34-9235-ebf2350ea65d
December 2025
Wang, Xiaoxue
8d5fe507-5408-4c34-9235-ebf2350ea65d
Simpson, David
53674880-f381-4cc9-8505-6a97eeac3c2a
Bleeck, Stefan
c888ccba-e64c-47bf-b8fa-a687e87ec16c
Wang, Xiaoxue
(2025)
Listening hard: new tools for monitoring effort in listening to speech in noise.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 241pp.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Listening effort refers to the cognitive exertion required to understand auditory information, particularly in challenging environments. Excessive effort can negatively affect communication, well-being, and cognitive function, especially in individuals with hearing loss or older adults. However, defining and measuring listening effort remains complex, as subjective reports, behavioural performance, and physiological indices often diverge, and substantial individual variability exists in how listeners respond to auditory challenges. Existing theoretical frameworks like the Framework for Understanding Effortful Listening (FUEL) and the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model highlight the interplay of cognitive resources, task demands, and listener factors, but a deeper understanding of the dynamic physiological mechanisms and individual response patterns is still needed.
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Published date: December 2025
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Local EPrints ID: 508237
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/508237
PURE UUID: 63c6a3ea-3f9e-4eb0-a9cf-275a88b7a4ff
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Date deposited: 15 Jan 2026 17:33
Last modified: 16 Jan 2026 02:40
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