Although speaking in noisy environments is a common occurrence, few studies have
investigated how noise affects language production beyond the acoustic level. In seeking
to differentiate between speaker- and listener-oriented modifications, this study examines
the effect of noise on the complexity of language production and examines whether
cognitive control predicts noise-induced modifications. Participants completed a picture
description task via videoconferencing software while both the speaker (the participant)
and listener (the experimenter) were exposed to multi-talker babble. Speakers produced
fewer T-units, clauses, and words as well as fewer, but longer, unfilled pauses in noise.
The degree of reduction in number of clauses, words, and unfilled pauses was significantly
associated with weaker cognitive control. Thus, we consider these modifications to be
speaker-oriented, driven by the distracting nature of noise. However, participants also
produced fewer filled pauses and mazes in noise. These modifications were not
significantly correlated with cognitive control, and they diverge from prior work
demonstrating that speakers tend to producemoredisfluencies when they
alone shoulder the burden of a noisy environment. This pattern of results suggests that
speakers may alter their speech to alleviate cognitive burden on themselves as well as to
facilitate comprehension for their listener.