How background noise changes children's word recognition with and without hearing aids
Official title: Real-time lexical access and semantic activation during masked speech recognition in children with normal hearing and children with hearing aids
Funded at The House Institute Foundation · NIH-11326660 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how different kinds of background noise slow down how quickly children with normal hearing and children who use hearing aids recognize words and their meanings.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | The House Institute Foundation NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | May 1, 2025 |
| Project end | April 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $154,703 |
| NIH project number | 5R21DC022555-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11326660 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
School-age children roughly 7 to 17 years old who have normal hearing or who use hearing aids are the intended participants, with adults included for comparison.
✕Less likely to help
Infants, preschoolers, people outside the tested age ranges, or those unable to complete simple listening and looking tasks would likely not benefit or be eligible.
What this research studies
If your child takes part, they would listen to spoken words and sentences while an eye-tracker records where they look to see how quickly they recognize words and meanings in real time. The team compares performance in steady background noise versus other people talking to see which type of masker causes more delay. School-age children (about 7–17 years old) with normal hearing and those who use hearing aids will be tested, and results will be compared with adults to understand developmental differences. The goal is to pinpoint when and how noisy environments make it harder for kids to keep up with speech.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Findings could help improve hearing-aid settings, classroom strategies, and other supports so children follow speech more easily in noisy places.
How similar studies have gone: Eye-tracking has been used successfully to study real-time word recognition in adults and older children, but applying it to masked speech in children who use hearing aids is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
The House Institute Foundation
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Klein, Kelsey Elizabeth — The House Institute Foundation
- Study coordinator: Klein, Kelsey Elizabeth
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.