Source avec lien : Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 7(1). 10.1186/s41235-022-00423-4
Le port de masques pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 a suscité un intérêt croissant pour l’impact fonctionnel des masques sur la parole et la communication. Des travaux antérieurs ont montré que les masques amortissent le son, entravent les indices de communication visuelle et réduisent l’intelligibilité. Cependant, des travaux supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour comprendre comment les locuteurs modifient leur discours lorsqu’ils portent un masque et pour identifier des stratégies permettant de surmonter l’impact du port d’un masque
Mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a growing interest in the functional impact of masks on speech and communication. Prior work has shown that masks dampen sound, impede visual communication cues, and reduce intelligibility. However, more work is needed to understand how speakers change their speech while wearing a mask and to identify strategies to overcome the impact of wearing a mask. Data were collected from 19 healthy adults during a single in-person session. We investigated the effects of wearing a KN95 mask on speech intelligibility, as judged by two speech-language pathologists, examined speech kinematics and acoustics associated with mask-wearing, and explored KN95 acoustic filtering. We then considered the efficacy of three speaking strategies to improve speech intelligibility: Loud, Clear, and Slow speech. To inform speaker strategy recommendations, we related findings to self-reported speaker effort. Results indicated that healthy speakers could compensate for the presence of a mask and achieve normal speech intelligibility. Additionally, we showed that speaking loudly or clearly—and, to a lesser extent, slowly—improved speech intelligibility. However, using these strategies may require increased physical and cognitive effort and should be used only when necessary. These results can inform recommendations for speakers wearing masks, particularly those with communication disorders (e.g., dysarthria) who may struggle to adapt to a mask but can respond to explicit instructions. Such recommendations may further help non-native speakers and those communicating in a noisy environment or with listeners with hearing loss.