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Evaluation and integration of acoustic features in speech perception
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|March 1, 1980
Summary
This study investigated how voice onset time (VOT) and formant transitions influence the perception of synthetic stop consonants like /bae/, /pae/, /dae/, and /tae/. Findings reveal complex, systematic relationships between acoustic features and consonant identification.
Area of Science:
- Phonetics
- Speech Perception
- Acoustic Phonetics
Background:
- Understanding how listeners distinguish between similar stop consonants is crucial for speech perception research.
- Synthetic speech stimuli allow for precise control over acoustic parameters like voice onset time (VOT) and formant transitions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the identification of synthetic stop consonants (/bae/, /pae/, /dae/, /tae/) based on variations in VOT and F2-F3 transitions.
- To investigate the role of aspiration noise intensity in distinguishing consonant pairs in a second experiment.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using synthetic speech stimuli.
- Independent variables included voice onset time (VOT), consonantal second and third formant (F2-F3) transitions, and aspiration noise intensity (Experiment 2).
- Listeners identified stimuli as one of four stop consonants.
Main Results:
- Identification probabilities showed complex but systematic functions of VOT and F2-F3 transitions.
- VOT and F2-F3 transitions significantly influenced the distinction between /b/, /p/ and /d/, /t/ sounds.
- Aspiration noise intensity also played a role in distinguishing /p/, /b/ from /t/, /d/.
Conclusions:
- Acoustic features like VOT, F2-F3 transitions, and aspiration noise interact to determine stop consonant perception.
- The findings support models of speech perception that account for feature evaluation and interaction.
- Listeners may require different acoustic feature values for different speech sounds.