Overview:
Irrelevant speech has been shown to impair memory performance more than any other type of auditory input, such as music or noise. In laboratory experiments using a wide range of artificial, and natural stimuli, we are trying to identify the acoustical properties of sounds that are responsible for the performance decrements observed. Thus, on the one hand, we are studying the effects of noise on performance, on the other hand, the irrelevant sound paradigm helps us to test hypotheses about the functioning of working memory.
Publications:
- Kattner, F., Hassanzadeh, M., & Ellermeier, W. (2024). The role of spatial location in irrelevant speech revisited: A preregistered replication study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 50(12), 1892–1900. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001424
- Oberfeld, D., Kattner, F., Staab, K, & Ellermeier, W. (2024). Is recognition of speech in noise related to memory disruption caused by irrelevant sound? Trends in Hearing 28.https://doi.org/10.1177/23312165241262517
- Kattner, F., Hanl, S., Paul, L., & Ellermeier, W. (2022). Task-specific auditory distraction in serial recall and mental arithmetic. Memory & Cognition https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-022-01363-6
- Kattner, F., & Ellermeier, W. (2020). Distraction at the Cocktail Party: Attenuation of the Irrelevant Speech Effect After a Training of Auditory Selective Attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46(1), 10-20.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000695
- Kattner, F., & Meinhardt, H. (2020). Dissociating the Disruptive Effects of Irrelevant Music and Speech on Serial Recall of Tonal and Verbal Sequences. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 346. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00346
- Ueda, K., Nakajima, Y., Kattner, F. & Ellermeier, W. (2019). Irrelevant speech effects with locally time-reversed speech: Native vs non-native language. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 145, 3686-3694. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5112774
- Kattner, F. & Ellermeier, W. (2018). Emotional prosody of task-irrelevant speech interferes with the retention of serial order. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44(8), 1303-1312. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000537
- Ellermeier, W., Kattner, F., Ueda, K., Doumoto, K., & Nakajima, Y. (2015). Memory disruption by irrelevant noise-vocoded speech: Effects of native language and the number of frequency bands. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 138, 1561-1569. doi: 10.1121/1.4928954
- Kattner, F. & Ellermeier, W. (2014). Irrelevant speech does not interfere with serial recall in early blind listeners. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67(11), 2207-2217. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2014.910537
- Ellermeier, W. & Zimmer, K. (2014). The psychoacoustics of the irrelevant sound effect. Acoustical Science and Technology, 35(1), 10-16. DOI:10.1250/ast.35.10
- Zimmer, K., Ghani, J. & Ellermeier, W. (2008). The role of task interference and exposure duration in judging noise annoyance. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 311, 1039-1051. (opens in new tab)
- Ellermeier, W. & Hellbrück, J. (1998). Is level irrelevant in “irrelevant speech”? Effects of loudness, signal-to-noise ratio and binaural unmasking. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 1406-1414.
- Ellermeier, W. & Zimmer, K. (1997). Individual differences in susceptibility to the “irrelevant speech effect.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 102, 2191-2199. (opens in new tab)
