Speech-reading: cognitive predictors and displayed emotion

The present study had three aims: to examine the effects of displayed emoti on and message length on speech-reading performance, and how measures of wo rking memory (cf. Baddeley 1986) and verbal information processing speed re late to speech-reading performance. Words and sentences with either positiv e or negative meaning were used in a word decoding and a sentence-based spe ech-reading test. A total of 48 normal-hearing subjects participated. The r esults revealed general effects of displayed emotion, message meaning and m essage length and no effect of displayed emotion vs message length. Further more, working memory but not verbal information processing speed nor accura cy predicted speech-reading performance. The results were discussed with re spect to st model of face-processing (Bruce & Young 1986) and with respect to clinical implications.