Tinnitus and Its Effect on Working Memory and Attention.

Purpose: In 2 experiments, the assumption that continual orienting to tinnitus uses cognitive resources was investigated. It was hypothesized that differences in performance of tinnitus and control groups would manifest during demanding or unfamiliar tasks that required strategic, controlled process...

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Published in:Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 150 - 161
Main Authors: Rassiter, Susan, Stevens, Catherine, Walker, Gary
Format: Article
Published: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association February 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: February 2006
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        atl: Tinnitus and Its Effect on Working Memory and Attention.
      aug:
        au:
          Rassiter, Susan
          Stevens, Catherine
          Walker, Gary
      su:
        Cognition
        Short-term memory
        Attention
        Tinnitus
      sug:
        subj:
          Cognition
          Short-term memory
          Attention
          Tinnitus
      ab: Purpose: In 2 experiments, the assumption that continual orienting to tinnitus uses cognitive resources was investigated. It was hypothesized that differences in performance of tinnitus and control groups would manifest during demanding or unfamiliar tasks that required strategic, controlled processing and that reduced performance was not related solely to levels of anxiety. Method: Nineteen participants with chronic, moderate tinnitus—matched with a control group for age, education, and verbal IQ—completed auditory verbal working-memory and visual divided-attention tasks, with task order counterbalanced across participants. Results: As hypothesized, reading span of the tinnitus group was significantly shorter than that of the control group (Task 1). In Task 2, the tinnitus group recorded slower reaction times and poorer accuracy in the most demanding dual task context. Covariate analyses revealed that differences in task performance were not attributable to anxiety scale scores. Conclusions: Complaints of the distracting effects of tinnitus have a basis in performance test outcomes. Future research should investigate effects of severe tinnitus and possible effects of hearing loss. At the level of theory development, results from this study suggest that tinnitus affects cognition to the extent that it reduces cognitive capacity needed to perform tasks that require voluntary, conscious, effortful, and strategic control. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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