The Impact of Visual Estimates of Talker-to-Listener Distance on Fundamental Frequency in Noise

Abstract: Lombard speech is an involuntary adaptive change in voicing under the influence of noise. In the current study we examine the relationship between involuntary auditory-speech control, common for Lombard speech, and voluntary control of phonation, which occurs as a result of the visual estimation of the distance to the listener (1 and 4 m). Fundamental frequencies (F0) were estimated in nine normally hearing Russian female speakers aged 20–35 years. An increase in F0 was obtained when the communicative conditions became more complex in both cases of an increase in surrounding background noise level and growth of talker-to-listener distance. In quiet and in noise of 60 and 72 dB the increase in talker-to-listener distance led to F0 increments of 14, 18, and 15 Hz, which did not differ significantly from each other (p > 0.05, n = 288). When the communicative distance was held constant, babble noise of different levels led to significantly different values of ΔF0: for 1 m distance–14 and 32 Hz (p < 0.001, n = 288), and for 4 m–18 and 33 Hz (p < 0.001, n = 288), respectively. The data obtained is evidence of the independent and additive impact of noise and communicative distance on phonation. © 2023, Pleiades Publishing, Inc.