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Echo

Echo

The human ear cannot distinguish between two sources of sound if they happen to reach within a specific time interval, typically 0.1 seconds apart. More than this, and they are perceived as separate sources.
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case, then the...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis

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Published on: August 9, 2024

Predicting echo thresholds from speech onset characteristics.

Scott D Miller¹, Ruth Y Litovsky, Keith R Kluender

¹Department of Psychology and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. sdmiller1@wisc.edu

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

|April 10, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Echo thresholds vary depending on speech sound characteristics, unlike previous studies using artificial sounds. This research explored differences in echo thresholds for speech syllables, offering new insights into auditory perception.

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Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Speech Perception
Psychoacoustics

Background:

Previous echo threshold studies used artificial stimuli (clicks, noise bursts).
Limited research exists on echo threshold variability with natural speech stimuli.
Existing speech studies reported only average echo thresholds.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate echo threshold variability using speech sounds.
Determine if echo thresholds differ based on syllable onset envelope abruptness.
Evaluate predictive models for echo thresholds in speech.

Main Methods:

Selected four syllables contrasting abrupt vs. gradual onset envelopes.
Measured fusion and discrimination suppression thresholds (echo thresholds).
Studied echo thresholds in relation to the precedence effect.

Main Results:

Echo thresholds significantly differed among the tested syllables.
Variability in thresholds was linked to syllable onset characteristics.
Findings provide empirical data on speech-specific echo perception.

Conclusions:

Echo thresholds are not uniform for speech sounds.
Syllable onset envelope influences echo threshold perception.
Results inform models of auditory object formation and speech processing.