Essays in Speech Processes
Language Production and Perception
Edited by
Augustine Agwuele [+–]
Texas State University
Department of Anthropology
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
Andrew Lotto [+–]
University of Arizona
Andrew Lotto is an Associate Professor in Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology. He has held positions at Loyola University of Chicago, Washington State University, University of Nebraska, Boys Town National Research Hospital and the University of Texas.
Dr. Lotto’s research interests are in the perception of complex sounds such as speech and music. Current projects include examining how people learn the sounds of a 2nd language and how one’s native language can interfere with this learning; investigating the ability of listeners to “tune” their perception to the particular characteristics of a speaker (e.g., understanding someone with a foreign accent or disordered speech); and studying how the design of cochlear implants and hearing aids can affect the ability of listeners to understand speech in complex listening environments. Dr. Lotto has collaborations with researchers in Psychology, Linguistics, Audiology, Speech Pathology, Electrical Engineering and Neurophysiology. He has organized the Auditory Cognitive Science Society in order to bring more researchers together from these various fields to focus on complex auditory processing.
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
Table of Contents
Preliminaries
CV of Harvey Sussman [+–] 1-19
Carnegi Mellon University
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
Chapter 1
Texas State University
Department of Anthropology
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
Texas State University
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.The major aim of the anthology is scholarly; the goal is to advance our understanding of theories in the resolution of acoustic and perceptual invariance, i.e., coarticulation and related issues with original and previously unpublished studies from current and active scholars from different sub-fields in linguistics. The contributors will like to dedicate their essays to Harvey Sussman in recognition of his extensive and influential teachings and scholarship.
Chapter 2
University of Iowa
University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
Chapter 3
University of Arizona
Andrew Lotto is an Associate Professor in Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology. He has held positions at Loyola University of Chicago, Washington State University, University of Nebraska, Boys Town National Research Hospital and the University of Texas.
Dr. Lotto’s research interests are in the perception of complex sounds such as speech and music. Current projects include examining how people learn the sounds of a 2nd language and how one’s native language can interfere with this learning; investigating the ability of listeners to “tune” their perception to the particular characteristics of a speaker (e.g., understanding someone with a foreign accent or disordered speech); and studying how the design of cochlear implants and hearing aids can affect the ability of listeners to understand speech in complex listening environments. Dr. Lotto has collaborations with researchers in Psychology, Linguistics, Audiology, Speech Pathology, Electrical Engineering and Neurophysiology. He has organized the Auditory Cognitive Science Society in order to bring more researchers together from these various fields to focus on complex auditory processing.
Carnegi Mellon University
Much theoretical and empirical work has been focused on how language learners\users parse multi-dimensional auditory spaces into the phonetic categories of a native or second language. A more fundamental question is how the listener determines the relevant dimensions for the perceptual space in the first place. This chapter explores the makes use neural processing constraints with statistics of the input-provides insights into potential answers to the more general questions about how listeners can solve the “frame problem” of which dimensions are most relevant to an auditory categorization task.
Chapter 4
Perceptual cues in Korean fricatives [+–] 83-119
University of Kansas
University of Kansas
We investigated the contrast between Korean plain and fortis alveolar fricatives. Production data from 10 speakers revealed that spectral mean, cepstral peak prominence, and vowel duration consistently distinguished the two fricatives, while H1-H2 varied across vowel contexts. In a perception experiment, listeners identified the fricative when given either the consonant, the vowel, or the entire fricative-vowel syllable. A second perception experiment used cross-spliced stimuli to examine the relative contribution of consonantal and vocalic cues. The results show that the vocalic cues are more salient in the low vowel context while the consonantal cues are more salient in the high vowel context. Thus, listeners use different perceptual strategies in different vowel contexts to achieve optimal fricative identification.
Chapter 5
University of Nevada
University of Arizona
Andrew Lotto is an Associate Professor in Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology. He has held positions at Loyola University of Chicago, Washington State University, University of Nebraska, Boys Town National Research Hospital and the University of Texas.
Dr. Lotto’s research interests are in the perception of complex sounds such as speech and music. Current projects include examining how people learn the sounds of a 2nd language and how one’s native language can interfere with this learning; investigating the ability of listeners to “tune” their perception to the particular characteristics of a speaker (e.g., understanding someone with a foreign accent or disordered speech); and studying how the design of cochlear implants and hearing aids can affect the ability of listeners to understand speech in complex listening environments. Dr. Lotto has collaborations with researchers in Psychology, Linguistics, Audiology, Speech Pathology, Electrical Engineering and Neurophysiology. He has organized the Auditory Cognitive Science Society in order to bring more researchers together from these various fields to focus on complex auditory processing.
Guided by simple, general and neutrally plausible explanation to questions pertaining to speech perception phenomena, we examine a classic speech phenomenon – extrinsic talker normalization – and search for general perceptual explanations. In particular, we present a series of experiments that cast doubt on traditional explanations based on the extraction of talker-specific acoustic-phonetic maps or estimations of vocal tract dimensions. In the place of these theories, we present evidence favoring a general auditory process underlying these effects and provide some speculation about its function beyond speech perception.
Chapter 6
Music training and the neural processing of speech: A critical review of the literature [+–] 139-174
University of Texas
University of Texas
University of Texas
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
Chapter 7
Effects of Syllable Complexity on Vowel Formant Variability in Acquired Apraxia of Speech [+–] 175-194
Portland State University
University of North Carolina
Moody College of Communication
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
Chapter 8
Speed and Accuracy of Picture Naming in Adults Who Stutter: The Influence of Phonetic Complexit [+–] 195-220
The University of Texas at Austin
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Director, Austin Center for Stuttering Intervention and Research
Louisiana State University
Moody College of Communication, The University of Texas at Austin
Moody College of Communication, The University of Texas
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
Chapter 9
University of Texas at Dallas
Many individuals who purchase hearing aids do not successfully use them. There are many reasons that may account for the “dresser drawer” hearing aids, some of which might be related to the way they are selected, programmed, or dispensed. Most professionals who fit hearing aids are now trained on manufacturer software that results in prescribed gain based on the users’ hearing thresholds. Without knowledge of the linguistic features of speech that may be distorted by the hearing loss, critical design elements in these assistive devices may have been overlooked. Furthermore, the hearing aid facilitates just one component of the communication process, the reception of the acoustic elements of the speech signal. The user must also learn ways to effectively inform the speaker of modifications to the rate of speech, environmental noise or lighting, and group dynamics that may provide as much benefit as an expensive ear-level instrument. The chapter provides a report on the development of improved rehabilitative techniques that extend beyond simply making speech audible for persons who experience communication challenges related to hearing loss.
Chapter 10
Texas Christian University
Harvey Sussman’s first published investigation of locus equations in 1991 occurred at a pivotal time in intervention for children with hearing loss. The FDA approved the first pediatric multichannel cochlear implant 1990. The Joint Commission for Infant Hearing recommended universal newborn hearing screening in 1994. These events resulted in provision of auditory access via hearing technology and enabled the development of neurological bases for listening and speaking in children with hearing loss at ages commensurate with hearing peers. The outcome was a paradigm shift in intervention for children with hearing loss – from compensatory visual and remedial strategies toward developmentally-based practice targeting listening and spoken language production. This paper describes how locus findings inform contemporary practice as well as assist in reasoned application of older strategies with children for whom early auditory access is not available.
Chapter 11
Newcastle University
Newcastle University
Newcastle University
The idea that person-centered communication (PCC) can be a centrally important contributor to improving care practices has become highly influential over recent years, particularly in the care of older people, and particularly in the ‘west’ (Care Quality Commission, 2012; Department of Health, 2011; Edvardsson and Innes, 2010). PCC is, however, vaguely conceptualized, and has been variously realized in care models (Brooker, 2006). There has been very little investigation of the effects of the application of purportedly person-centered communicative approaches to care, and the notion itself has been critiqued on the grounds of its possible cultural inappropriateness and ethnocentricity due to its supposed over-emphasis on support for the agency of the individual, essentialized self (Young and Manthorp, 2009). This paper explores the notion of PCC in the care of people living with dementia (PLWD). A particular focus will be on its transcultural and international applicability outside of its current core in North America, Australasia and North and Western Europe. It draws on recent and ongoing research into the codification and application of person-centered communicative approaches to the care of PLWD in the UK and in Malaysia involving a wide spectrum of stakeholder groups, including medical and social care professionals, medical students, institutional carers, family members and, crucially, PLWD themselves (Young et all, 2011; Tullo and Young, 2013). It concludes by presenting a model of a translatable, locally-adaptable, transculturally-applicable, person-centred approach to communication with PLWD grounded in recent theory related to the social psychology of communication and intercultural communication, which takes full account of the beliefs, attitudes and knowledge of these international stakeholders.
Chapter 12
University of Sheffield
Since Bjorn Lindblom’s paper on F2 locus equations (F2 LEs) (Lindblom, 1963), there has been much discussion and debate about understanding the complex processes underlying speech perception. Furthermore, long standing and continued research by Harvey Sussman and his colleagues on F2 LEs has served to stimulate a significant body of research and discussion on this topic in neurolinguistics, phonetics and the behavioral sciences to name but a few (e.g. Sussman et al., 1998). However, thus far, less emphasis has been placed on the use of F2 LEs as a metric for gauging and assessing individual differences in the speech production of both healthy and clinical populations. This paper presents and reviews a number of non-clinical and clinical studies which have adopted F2 LEs to profile the speech patterns of individuals. The contribution of F2 LEs as a metric for understanding a range of individual differences in speech production across the lifespan will be the focus of this review.
Chapter 13
Allameh Tabataba’i University
Locus equations were employed to phonetically describe the degree of CV coarticulation as a function of speaking style. Two male speakers of Persian participated in this study. C1VC2 tokens were produced in citation-style laboratory speech as well as informal spontaneous speech characterized by hypo-articulation, where C1 was one of the voiced stops /b,d,ɟ,G/ and V was one of the six simple vowels /i,e,a,u,o,ɑ/. In both styles, locus equation slopes were highest for /ɟ/ and /G/, intermediate for /b/, and lowest for /d/. Locus equations slope values increased for /d, ɟ, G/ in spontaneous relative to citation style, but remained relatively stable for /b/. Results indicate increased coarticulation in informal spontaneous speech for consonants involving the tongue as the main articulator. For bilabial place of articulation coarticulatory overlap is already at its maximum in citation style, which cannot increase further under the conditions imposed by hypo-articulation.
Chapter 14
University of Texas at Austin
Coarticulation has historically been viewed as a necessary but disruptive articulatory process. Motor theorists argued that coarticulation aided the rapid transmission of speech segments. The price paid for this efficiency was lack of isomorphism between sound and phonetic segmental structure. The advent of the locus equation paradigm to assess coarticulation in stop consonant + vowel sequences questions this view. Two decades of research have shown that the slope of the regression function derived from plotting F2onset frequencies against F2 midpoints in the vowel serve as a numerical index of the degree of coarticulation between the vowel and stop consonant. Moreover, different extents of coarticulation across stop place categories (/b/-/d/-/g/) help create the acoustic contrastiveness of stop place categories, just the opposite of motor theory claims. Additional support for this view is provided from (1) acoustic analyses of the developmental progression of stop + vowel sequences from babbling to early first words; and (2) the lack of stop place categorical distinctive- ness in children with reduced intelligibility due to developmental apraxia of speech. The contrastive orderliness of locus equation scatterplots provides a viable conceptualiza-tion for an acoustic-to-auditory-to-neural transform needed for a representational mapping of stop + vowel utterances for eventual perception.
Chapter 15
Texas State University
Department of Anthropology
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
This involves the application of locus equation to the interaction of consonant + vowel for to Yoruba language . The consonants involved are voiced stops bilabial, alveolar, velar and labio-velar stops. It analyses the variability associated with these interaction in addition to examining whether lexical tone produces additional confounding effect to the interaction between consonant and tone bearing vowel that could be shown to be separate from the traditionally expected CV bonding. The study shows that changing pattern of tone configuration in VCV sequences e.g., from VMCVM [M= mid tone] to VLCVL [L = low tone] produces differing consonant + vowel interaction. The study provides acoustic evidence for a possible independence of the “source” from the “filter”, i.e., the resonances of the vocal tract.
Chapter 16
University of Texas at Austin
Few investigators in speech science have made so many fundamental contributions across such a broad range of subdisciplines as Harvey Sussman. His work spans the domains of motor control and articulatory patterning, acoustic phonetics, speech perception, and neurolinguistics. He is well respected as both an experimentalist and a theoretician. This review summarizes some of his most significant findings and several main currents of his thought. Key topics include articulatory measurement at both the articulatory and neuromotor levels, feature detectors for speech, locus equations, animal models of perceptual mechanisms, and the theoretical description of coarticulation. It is argued that the Sussman’s work helps to resolve some key problems in phonetics and language studies.
End Matter
University of Texas and Stockholm University
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
Index [+–] 378-380
Texas State University
Department of Anthropology
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
Areas of interest: Linguistics, Cultural Studies, African studies, Socio-cultural linguistics
University of Arizona
Andrew Lotto is an Associate Professor in Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology. He has held positions at Loyola University of Chicago, Washington State University, University of Nebraska, Boys Town National Research Hospital and the University of Texas.
Dr. Lotto’s research interests are in the perception of complex sounds such as speech and music. Current projects include examining how people learn the sounds of a 2nd language and how one’s native language can interfere with this learning; investigating the ability of listeners to “tune” their perception to the particular characteristics of a speaker (e.g., understanding someone with a foreign accent or disordered speech); and studying how the design of cochlear implants and hearing aids can affect the ability of listeners to understand speech in complex listening environments. Dr. Lotto has collaborations with researchers in Psychology, Linguistics, Audiology, Speech Pathology, Electrical Engineering and Neurophysiology. He has organized the Auditory Cognitive Science Society in order to bring more researchers together from these various fields to focus on complex auditory processing.
The brain is a complicated and intricately woven structure relative to other body tissues. It is the ultimate parallel processing system, but nevertheless an alien structure whose way and manner of workings remain largely unknown despite an amazing amount of information amassed over the years from concerted research efforts. One area of interest to diverse scholars in the humanities and biological sciences is how the brain deals with speech, especially the coordination of incoming and outgoing signals. Essays in Speech Processes presents reports of theoretical and experimental studies from extant researches specifically dwelling the areas of: phonetics, neurolinguistics, neuroethology, and stuttering.
