Cue-integration and context effects in speech: evidence against speaking-rate normalization

Joseph C Toscano; Bob McMurray

doi:10.3758/s13414-012-0306-z

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Cue-integration and context effects in speech: evidence against speaking-rate normalization

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Cue-integration and context effects in speech: evidence against speaking-rate normalization

Joseph C Toscano and Bob McMurray

Attention, perception & psychophysics, Vol.74(6), pp.1284-1301

08/2012

DOI: 10.3758/s13414-012-0306-z

PMCID: PMC3544203

PMID: 22532385

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3544203View

Open Access

Abstract

Listeners are able to accurately recognize speech despite variation in acoustic cues across contexts, such as different speaking rates. Previous work has suggested that listeners use rate information (indicated by vowel length; VL) to modify their use of context-dependent acoustic cues, like voice-onset time (VOT), a primary cue to voicing. We present several experiments and simulations that offer an alternative explanation: that listeners treat VL as a phonetic cue rather than as an indicator of speaking rate, and that they rely on general cue-integration principles to combine information from VOT and VL. We demonstrate that listeners use the two cues independently, that VL is used in both naturally produced and synthetic speech, and that the effects of stimulus naturalness can be explained by a cue-integration model. Together, these results suggest that listeners do not interpret VOT relative to rate information provided by VL and that the effects of speaking rate can be explained by more general cue-integration principles.

Cues

Verbal Behavior

Humans

Speech Production Measurement

Fixation, Ocular

Speech Acoustics

Paired-Associate Learning

Saccades

Communication Aids for Disabled

Semantics

Sound Spectrography

Phonetics

Pattern Recognition, Visual

Speech Perception

Details

Title: Subtitle: Cue-integration and context effects in speech: evidence against speaking-rate normalization
Creators: Joseph C Toscano - Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. jtoscano@illinois.edu
Bob McMurray
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Attention, perception & psychophysics, Vol.74(6), pp.1284-1301
DOI: 10.3758/s13414-012-0306-z
PMID: 22532385
PMCID: PMC3544203
NLM abbreviation: Atten Percept Psychophys
ISSN: 1943-3921
eISSN: 1943-393X
Publisher: United States
Grant note: R01 DC008089 / NIDCD NIH HHS\nP50 DC000242 / NIDCD NIH HHS\nDC008089 / NIDCD NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 08/2012
Academic Unit: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Linguistics; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Otolaryngology
Record Identifier: 9984070710402771

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