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Psychophysical scaling of distorted speech
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
|March 1, 1981
Summary
Perceived speech distortion grows slower than physical distortion. This study quantified how listeners scale auditory distortion, finding a consistent relationship between physical changes and subjective experience.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Perception
- Speech Science
- Psychoacoustics
Background:
- Understanding the relationship between physical speech signal distortion and perceived auditory distortion is crucial for fields like speech processing and audiology.
- Previous research has explored various aspects of speech perception, but quantifying the precise scaling of distortion remains an area of interest.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and quantify the relationship between physical distortion and perceived distortion in speech signals.
- To determine how listeners scale subjective auditory distortion using magnitude estimation and production methods.
Main Methods:
- Ten participants with normal hearing were recruited for the study.
- Magnitude estimation and magnitude production procedures were employed to assess perceived distortion.
- Systematic variations in the physical distortion of a speech signal were introduced.
Main Results:
- The combined data from magnitude estimation and production procedures yielded a function.
- This function exhibited a slope of 0.83.
- The results indicate that perceived distortion increases at a slower rate than physical distortion.
Conclusions:
- Perceived auditory distortion scales sub-linearly with physical distortion in speech signals.
- The findings provide valuable data for models of speech perception and distortion correction.
- This research contributes to a better understanding of the human auditory system's response to degraded speech.