Listening in challenging environments is more difficult for some individuals than others and may require individuals to devote more cognitive resources to listening, also known as greater listening effort. Difficulty with listening effort can negatively impact an individual's quality of life and reduce participation in enjoyable situations. Individuals may be affected differently by the environment, based on their cognitive, attentional, and linguistic skills. Recent findings suggest increased cognitive resources are allocated for semantic processing as listening difficulty increases. The current study evaluated relationships between individual variability in cognitive proficiencies (inhibitory control, nonverbal IQ, and language abilities) and semantic processing in challenging listening environments. Thirty-nine adults with typical hearing and language skills completed a battery of language and cognitive assessments. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were acquired during a speech-in-noise task with varying difficulty levels. Results revealed semantic processing in difficult listening environments was uniquely impacted by an individual's inhibitory control, expressive language, and receptive language skills. Together, these findings suggest that the use of cognitive resources to support semantic processing in challenging listening environments varies as a function of cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
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