The working memory link to speech-in-noise emerges only past age forty.

Evidence

Separate correlational analyses for each age group revealed that the strength of the association differed across groups (see Fig. 2 ). Consistent with the overall trend seen in Fig. 1 , the correlation was weak and non-significant in the group of young participants (r = 0.18, p = 0.162, one-tailed). In contrast, the correlations were moderately strong and significant in the three older groups (all r ≥ 0.44, all p ≤ 0.011, one-tailed). Comparing the different correlation coefficients, after applying Fisher’s r-to-z transformation, revealed a significant difference between the Young and Old-Old group (z = ‑1.75, p = 0.040, one-tailed). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1144

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why does the WMC-SiN correlation jump specifically after age 40? Is it declining perceptual fidelity or something else that recruits working memory?