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Evidence that the Lombard effect is frequency-specific in humans
Lauren M Stowe1, Edward J Golob
1Department of Psychology, Tulane University, 2007 Percival Stern Hall, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA. dr_lauren_stowe@yahoo.com
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|July 19, 2013
Summary
The Lombard effect, a change in speech in noise, is not a general response to sound. It specifically depends on speech-relevant frequencies, impacting vocal intensity and duration.
Area of Science:
- Speech production
- Auditory perception
- Acoustic phonetics
Background:
- The Lombard effect is characterized by increased vocal intensity, duration, and fundamental frequency (F0) in noisy environments.
- It has been traditionally considered a non-specific response to ambient noise, a notion requiring further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the Lombard effect is a general response to noise or is specific to speech-relevant frequencies.
- To examine the impact of different noise types on suprasegmental speech parameters.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted with healthy adults performing a picture naming task.
- Participants' vocal intensity, duration, and F0 were measured under conditions of broadband noise, notched noise (speech frequencies removed), and bandpass noise (speech frequencies present).
Main Results:
- Broadband noise significantly increased vocal intensity, duration, and F0.
- Notched noise, lacking speech-similar frequencies, did not affect these parameters.
- Bandpass noise increased intensity and duration but not F0, indicating a frequency-specific effect.
Conclusions:
- The Lombard effect is sensitive to the spectral characteristics of noise, particularly frequencies crucial for speech perception.
- This suggests the Lombard effect is not a generalized response to any sound but is modulated by the presence of speech-relevant acoustic information.
- Findings have implications for understanding the suprasegmental control of speech production in challenging acoustic conditions.
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