Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2025

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
Published on: September 27, 2024
English vowel recognition in multi-talker babbles mixed with different numbers of talkersa)
Xianhui Wang1,2, Li Xu2,3
1Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cognitive Sciences, and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA.
Abstract:
The present study examined English vowel recognition in multi-talker babbles (MTBs) in 20 normal-hearing, native-English-speaking adult listeners. Twelve vowels, embedded in the h-V-d structure, were presented in MTBs consisting of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 talkers (numbers of talkers [N]) and a speech-shaped noise at signal-to-noise ratios of -12, -6, and 0 dB. Results showed that vowel recognition performance was a non-monotonic function of N when signal-to-noise ratios were less favorable. The masking effects of MTBs on vowel recognition were most similar to consonant recognition but less so to word and sentence recognition reported in previous studies.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Echo
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,...
Components of Language
Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
Interference: Path Lengths
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Language and Cognition

