Speech-like noise fools the brain and harms intelligibility more than its level suggests

Evidence

Interfering noises that have similar rates of variation as speech are particularly difficult to deal with, as they fool our higher-order processing centers into attending to them as if they are speech. Because of this, their effect is often more severe than a simple measurement of level would indicate. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2481

Categorization

• QUESTION: What noise sources best mimic speech-rate modulation, and can masking metrics capture this?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2481
• XREF: connects to: Small amounts of hearing loss disproportionately impair speech-in-noise perception — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5472; Noise combines measurable harm with subjective disturbance; Speech processing deficits can impair understanding independent of hearing (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Inherent noise fluctuations do not universally limit speech perception across hearing conditions #qualifies (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2166