Auditory word recognition is not more sensitive to word-initial than to word-final stimulus information

Vlugt, Maureen J. van der; Nooteboom, S.G.

doi:10.1121/1.2024178

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…In both native and non-native listening, the masking of word-initial information is more detrimental to spoken-word recognition than the masking of word-final information. So, in line with previous studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], word-initial information is more important for successful word recognition than word-final information. Moreover, as expected, fewer words are recognized when listening conditions deteriorate (in line with, e.g., [15]).…”

Section: General Discussion and Conclusionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Although listeners use both word-initial and word-final information for candidate word selection and recognition [1][2][3], word-initial information seems to be more important in evaluating lexical candidates than word-final information, at least in clean listening conditions [1] [4]. In the presence of background noise, however, native listeners have been found to adapt the activations of candidate words during competition [4] [5] so that offset competitors are activated relatively more compared to clean listening conditions [4] [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does the Importance of Word-Initial and Word-Final Information Differ in Native versus Non-Native Spoken-Word Recognition?

Scharenborg

Coumans

Kakouros³

et al. 2016

Interspeech 2016

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This paper investigates whether the importance and use of word-initial and word-final information in spoken-word recognition is dependent on whether one is listening in a native or a non-native language and on the presence of background noise. Native English and non-native Dutch and Finnish listeners participated in an English word recognition experiment, where either a word's onset or offset was masked by speech-shaped noise with different signal-to-noise ratios. The results showed that for all listener groups the masking of word onset information was more detrimental to spoken-word recognition than the masking of word offset information. The reliance on word-initial information was larger in harder listening conditions for the English but not so for the Dutch and Finnish listeners. Moreover, no significant differences in the use of word-initial and word-final information were found between the two non-native listener groups. Taken together, these results show that the reliance on word-initial information in deteriorating listening conditions seems to be dependent on whether one is listening in one's native or a non-native language rather than on the listener's native language. Index Terms: non-native spoken word recognition, listening in noise, language dependency.

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Section: General Discussion and Conclusionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the Importance of Word-Initial and Word-Final Information Differ in Native versus Non-Native Spoken-Word Recognition?

Scharenborg

Coumans

Kakouros³

et al. 2016

Interspeech 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…An increased probability of correct identification with increasing word-onset information, thus, might not necessarily imply that the analysis is sequential, but that the word is simply better specified. Van der Vlugt and Nooteboom (1986) suggested that in word recognition, all parts of a spoken word can be used effectively, so long as proper alignment with word candidates is ensured, a task ordinarily more efficient when the information available pertains to a word's onset.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognition of isolated words: The dynamics of cohort reduction

Wayland

Wingfield

Goodglass

1989

Applied Psycholinguistics

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In the experiment reported here, subjects heard the beginnings of spoken words, followed by increasingly larger segments of word-onset information until the words could be correctly identified. The likelihood of word identification at any given point was found to be an inverse power function of the number of words in a dictionary count that began with the same sounds as the stimulus. Subjects' prerecognition responses consisted of words drawn from a wide range of word frequencies. The variance in frequency decreased with increasing amounts of wordonset information. Results are discussed in terms of word-initial phonology as a trigger for response activation.Word finding -the process by which the phonological form of a desired word is brought above threshold for utterance -stands as a central topic for both normal and aphasic subjects. In a recent experiment we used a variant on the classic tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) experiment, in which we gave subjects spoken definitions of low-frequency (uncommon) words and asked for the correct words that fit those definitions. In most TOT studies, subjects unable to give a correct response are interrogated about whether they know the length, initial letters, or other features of the target word (cf. Brown & McNeill, 1966;Koriat & Lieblich, 1974;Rubin, 1975). In our case we attempted to infer subjects' knowledge of inaccessible target-word features by analyzing their spontaneously spoken interim response attempts (Kohn, Wingfield, Menn, Goodglass, Gleason, & Hyde, 1987).Our results showed that fragmentary responses that matched the first sounds of the target words were more likely to precede a correct response than to precede a failure. This, and related findings from that study, suggested that the amount of partial phonological knowledge with which the subject entered the search was a good predictor of likelihood of success.The importance of word-initial phonology to word retrieval can also be

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“…There is substantial evidence that listeners are able to exploit 19 whatever information is on offer -for instance, that they can extract useful information from the ends of words if they did not hear the beginnings because of noise interference. Van der Vlugt and Nooteboom (1986) found that beginnings and ends of synthesised words were equally effective prompts for correct recognition responses when the rest of the word was masked with noise. Slowiaczek et al (1987) Native listener adjustment to noise is in fact very sensitive, and also accords with our understanding of the spoken-word recognition process.…”

Section: The Effects Of Adverse Conditions On Spoken-word Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Non-native speech perception in adverse conditions: A review

Lecumberri¹,

Cooke²,

Cutler³

2010

Speech Communication

235

185

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If listening in adverse conditions is hard, then listening in a foreign language is doubly so: non-native listeners have to cope with both imperfect signals and imperfect knowledge. Comparison of native and non-native listener performance in speech-in-noise tasks helps to clarify the role of prior linguistic experience in speech perception, and, more directly, contributes to an understanding of the problems faced by language learners in everyday listening situations. This article reviews experimental studies on nonnative listening in adverse conditions, organised around three principal contributory factors: the task facing listeners, the effect of adverse conditions on speech, and the differences among listener populations. Based on a comprehensive tabulation of key studies, we identify robust findings, research trends and gaps in current knowledge. 3 IntroductionFor many of us, the first non-native language experience outside the classroom is a shock. Not only are the answers to the carefully-practised stock phrases not those that appeared in the textbook, but the raw acoustic material reaching our ears lacks the clarity of the speakers in the quiet language laboratory. Thus unprepared, we enter the real world of the non-native listener, characterised by the dual challenges of imperfect signal and imperfect knowledge. And the problem persists even as we gain experience, exposure and confidence in the non-native language. Use of the telephone seems harder than it should be.Conversations in restaurants and bars are difficult to follow and join. The television never seems quite loud enough. We continue to prefer hearing non-native speakers of English at international conferences rather than highly-fluent natives. We finally take solace in the fact that even "true" bilingual listeners never quite reach the ability of monolinguals in the presence of noise (Mayo et al., 1997;Rogers et al., 2006).Knowing about the extent of problems faced by non-native listeners in adverse conditions is important in developing theories of general speech perception. Comparing adult, normal-hearing populations who differ only in their native-language experience has the potential to provide insights into the role of linguistic factors in speech decoding. Since all listeners routinely handle acoustically-complex scenarios containing competing sound sources, reverberant energy and other forms of distortion, the use of native and non-native populations allows us to explore the extent to which linguistic knowledge is used in tasks such as sound source separation and identification. To give an example, consider the processes used by listeners to handle variability in formant frequencies due to factors such as differences in vocal tract sizes. Can vocal tract length normalisation be performed purely on the basis of the speech signal itself, or does it depend on the identification of units such as vowels in the speech stream, thereby engaging higher level representations which differentiate between native and non-native listeners? More ...

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Auditory word recognition is not more sensitive to word-initial than to word-final stimulus information

Abstract: Auditory word recognition is not more sensitive to word-initial than to word-final stimulus information M. J. van der Vlugt, and S. G. Nooteboom

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Does the Importance of Word-Initial and Word-Final Information Differ in Native versus Non-Native Spoken-Word Recognition?

Does the Importance of Word-Initial and Word-Final Information Differ in Native versus Non-Native Spoken-Word Recognition?

Recognition of isolated words: The dynamics of cohort reduction

Non-native speech perception in adverse conditions: A review

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