Encoding tasks and the processing of perceptual information in young and older adults

This study examined the degree to which different tasks promote the encodin g of the characteristics of a talker's voice in young and older adults, and whether these characteristics encoded in long-term memory facilitate spoke n word identification under difficult listening conditions. During the enco ding phase, participants were given extensive exposure to the voices of two talkers and performed tasks that Focused their attention on either voice c haracteristics (explicitly or incidentally) or linguistic information. Subs equently, participants identified novel words masked by noise, half of whic h were spoken by one of the familiar talkers and half by an unfamiliar talk er. Young adults identified with greater accuracy words spoken in a familia r voice, whereas older adults benefited From voice familiarity only under i nstructions that promoted attention to voice characteristics either explici tly or incidentally, Age-related declines in sensory uptake (hearing loss) accounted for most of these task-dependent voice effects.