University Retirees Volunteer Center

Listening and Speech Perception Studies for

Adults 50-80 Years Old

The UMN Listen Lab explores various aspects of speech communication. Current research projects focus on a comparison of speech perception between participants with typical hearing and those with cochlear implants with the goals of improving clinical assessment, rehabilitation, and quality of life for individuals with hearing loss.

Researchers at the Listen Lab study listening effort, speech perception, and prosody to better understand what makes communication challenging, and the strategies listeners use to overcome these challenges.

Volunteer Eligibility:

Participants in this study must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• 50-80 years of age.
• No known, significant hearing loss. A basic hearing screening will be conducted prior to the study.
• Native speaker of American English.
• Cognitively normal (a cognitive test may also be performed to the study).

While the current recruitment focuses on individuals with typical hearing loss, volunteers may also contact the Listen Lab if they use cochlear implants. Volunteer contact information will be stored for future listening studies.

Volunteer Activities: Researchers are recruiting individuals with normal hearing to participate in two new experiments. If you have participated with the Listen Lab before, you are likely ELIGIBLE to participate again.

Project 1: “Signal” - Through pupil dilation measures, researchers will characterize how listeners prepare to hear a sentence that they will expect to be easy or difficult.

Project 2: “Whole-final” – Studies the degree to which listening effort can be focused on a particular word. Participation in both projects will be completed in one two-hour session.

Participants for both research projects will:

• Listen to people speaking. Participants sit with their face in a frame (similar to at an eye appointment), gaze at a computer screen, hear a sentence, repeat what they hear, or respond with an easy-to-use computer interface. A non-invasive eye-tracker is used to measure eye position and pupil size during the tasks.
• Receive a compensation of $15/hour.

What to Wear: Volunteers should dress for comfort. The sound booth can get warm, especially during summer months.

Location: Study sessions take place in Shevlin Hall on the UMN Twin Cities campus: 164 Pillsbury Dr. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Parking/Transportation:
Free parking is provided. In most cases, participants are given a permit to park in a designated spot next to our building. When those spaces are unavailable, parking tickets are validated from nearby campus parking garages.

Safety information:

There are no significant risks of these research studies. Minor risks include tiredness and eye fatigue from viewing a computer screen. Frequent, untimed breaks will be provided throughout the session to maintain comfort.

Information and contact: To register for the study, please contact the Listen Lab coordinator, Kate Teece: 

• Email: henn0158@umn.edu