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Jul 2008

Volume 124, Issue 1, pp. 1-EL13

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Multiple routes to the perceptual learning of speech

Jeremy L. Loebach, Tessa Bent, and David B. Pisoni

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 124, Issue 1, pp. 552-561 (2008); (10 pages) | Cited 2 times

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A listener’s ability to utilize indexical information in the speech signal can enhance their performance on a variety of speech perception tasks. It is unclear, however, whether such information plays a similar role for spectrally reduced speech signals, such as those experienced by individuals with cochlear implants. The present study compared the effects of training on linguistic and indexical tasks when adapting to cochlear implant simulations. Listening to sentences processed with an eight-channel sinewave vocoder, three separate groups of subjects were trained on a transcription task (transcription), a talker identification task (talker ID), or a gender identification task (gender ID). Pre- to posttest comparisons demonstrated that training produced significant improvement for all groups. Moreover, subjects from the talker ID and transcription training groups performed similarly at posttest and generalization, and significantly better than the subjects from the gender ID training group. These results suggest that training on an indexical task that requires high levels of controlled attention can provide equivalent benefits to training on a linguistic task. When listeners selectively focus their attention on the extralinguistic information in the speech signal, they still extract linguistic information, the degree to which they do so, however, appears to be task dependent.
Show PACS
43.71.Bp Perception of voice and talker characteristics
43.71.Es Vowel and consonant perception; perception of words, sentences, and fluent speech
43.66.Ts Auditory prostheses, hearing aids
43.66.Lj Perceptual effects of sound

Speech identification based on temporal fine structure cues

Stanley Sheft, Marine Ardoint, and Christian Lorenzi

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 124, Issue 1, pp. 562-575 (2008); (14 pages) | Cited 3 times

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The contribution of temporal fine structure (TFS) cues to consonant identification was assessed in normal-hearing listeners with two speech-processing schemes designed to remove temporal envelope (E) cues. Stimuli were processed vowel-consonant-vowel speech tokens. Derived from the analytic signal, carrier signals were extracted from the output of a bank of analysis filters. The “PM” and “FM” processing schemes estimated a phase- and frequency-modulation function, respectively, of each carrier signal and applied them to a sinusoidal carrier at the analysis-filter center frequency. In the FM scheme, processed signals were further restricted to the analysis-filter bandwidth. A third scheme retaining only E cues from each band was used for comparison. Stimuli processed with the PM and FM schemes were found to be highly intelligible (50–80% correct identification) over a variety of experimental conditions designed to affect the putative reconstruction of E cues subsequent to peripheral auditory filtering. Analysis of confusions between consonants showed that the contribution of TFS cues was greater for place than manner of articulation, whereas the converse was observed for E cues. Taken together, these results indicate that TFS cues convey important phonetic information that is not solely a consequence of E reconstruction.
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43.71.Gv Measures of speech perception (intelligibility and quality)
43.71.Es Vowel and consonant perception; perception of words, sentences, and fluent speech
43.66.Mk Temporal and sequential aspects of hearing; auditory grouping in relation to music

Acoustic and perceptual similarity of Japanese and American English vowels

Kanae Nishi, Winifred Strange, Reiko Akahane-Yamada, Rieko Kubo, and Sonja A. Trent-Brown

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 124, Issue 1, pp. 576-588 (2008); (13 pages) | Cited 2 times

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Show Abstract
Acoustic and perceptual similarities between Japanese and American English (AE) vowels were investigated in two studies. In study 1, a series of discriminant analyses were performed to determine acoustic similarities between Japanese and AE vowels, each spoken by four native male speakers using F1, F2, and vocalic duration as input parameters. In study 2, the Japanese vowels were presented to native AE listeners in a perceptual assimilation task, in which the listeners categorized each Japanese vowel token as most similar to an AE category and rated its goodness as an exemplar of the chosen AE category. Results showed that the majority of AE listeners assimilated all Japanese vowels into long AE categories, apparently ignoring temporal differences between 1- and 2-mora Japanese vowels. In addition, not all perceptual assimilation patterns reflected context-specific spectral similarity patterns established by discriminant analysis. It was hypothesized that this incongruity between acoustic and perceptual similarity may be due to differences in distributional characteristics of native and non-native vowel categories that affect the listeners’ perceptual judgments.
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43.71.Hw Cross-language perception of speech
43.70.Kv Cross-linguistic speech production and acoustics
43.71.Es Vowel and consonant perception; perception of words, sentences, and fluent speech
43.70.Fq Acoustical correlates of phonetic segments and suprasegmental properties: stress, timing, and intonation
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