On synchronous speech

Cummins, Fred

doi:10.1121/1.1416672

Cited by 45 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…The present results are largely consistent with considerable work on synchronized speech by Cummins [28,29,32,33]. Among other things, Cummins and his colleagues have demonstrated that people can synchronize their voices with relative ease at latencies comparable to those described here (i.e., ,40 ms [29]), and that variability in the placement and duration of pauses between sentences is reduced in synchronized speech [32].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Social Origins of Rhythm? Synchrony and Temporal Regularity in Human Vocalization

Bowling

Herbst

Fitch

2014

The Evolution of Language

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Humans have a capacity to perceive and synchronize with rhythms. This is unusual in that only a minority of other species exhibit similar behavior. Study of synchronizing species (particularly anurans and insects) suggests that simultaneous signal production by different individuals may play a critical role in the development of regular temporal signaling. Accordingly, we investigated the link between simultaneous signal production and temporal regularity in our own species. Specifically, we asked whether inter-individual synchronization of a behavior that is typically irregular in time, speech, could lead to evenly-paced or ''isochronous'' temporal patterns. Participants read nonsense phrases aloud with and without partners, and we found that synchronous reading resulted in greater regularity of durational intervals between words. Comparison of same-gender pairings showed that males and females were able to synchronize their temporal speech patterns with equal skill. These results demonstrate that the shared goal of synchronization can lead to the development of temporal regularity in vocalizations, suggesting that the origins of musical rhythm may lie in cooperative social interaction rather than in sexual selection.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Social Origins of Rhythm? Synchrony and Temporal Regularity in Human Vocalization

Bowling

Herbst

Fitch

2014

The Evolution of Language

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“…Cummins (2002) compares the pause placement for speakers in solo reading with pause placement in synchronous reading by dyads. He shows that variability in pause placement is significantly reduced in synchronous speech.…”

Section: Pause Durationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The distinct advantages of the synchronous speech paradigm are that the reduction of variability in both pause placement and pause duration facilitates comparison across speakers. Furthermore, Cummins (2002Cummins ( , 2003 and Zvonik and Cummins (2003) suggest that this method captures in important ways the speakers' shared knowledge of linguistic timing, minimizing individual or stylistic differences. Zvonik and Cummins's (2002) study also showed that while pause duration was less variable in synchronous speech, the length of pauses was comparable -speakers paused both synchronously and in solo readings longer after a longer phrase -again indicating that the synchronous reading does not invoke its own dynamics.…”

Section: Pause Durationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prosodic planning: Effects of phrasal length and complexity on pause duration

Krivokapic

2007

Journal of Phonetics

127

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Research on pause duration has mainly focused on the impact of syntactic structure on the duration of pauses within an utterance and on the impact of syntax, discourse, and prosodic structure on the likelihood of pause occurrence. Relatively little is known about what factors play a role in determining the duration of pauses between utterances or phrases. Two experiments examining the effect of prosodic structure and phrase length on pause duration are reported. Subjects read sentences varying along the following parameters: a) the length in syllables of the intonational phrase preceding and following the pause, and b) the prosodic structure of the intonational phrase preceding and following the pause, specifically whether or not the intonational phrase branches into smaller phrases. In order to minimize variability due to speech rate and individual differences, speakers read sentences synchronously in dyads. The results showed a significant post-boundary effect of prosodic branching and significant pre-and post-boundary phrase length effects. The results are discussed in terms of production units.

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“…These oscillators entrain to syllable rate, so the listener's readiness to speak is at a maximum when the speaker's readiness is at a minimum (i.e., when the speaker is mid-syllable) and vice versa. Previous research supports the involvement of entrainment during conversation (Cummins, 2002(Cummins, , 2003(Cummins, , 2009Jungers, Palmer, & Speer, 2002;Street, 1984;Zion Golumbic et al, 2013). For example, Jungers and Hupp (2009) found that listeners were more likely to produce a response at a fast rate after hearing a speaker produce an utterance at this rate, suggesting listeners entrained to the timing of their interlocutor's speech rate, which in turn influenced their own production.…”

Section: Buffering and Articulating A Responsementioning

confidence: 82%

Coordinating Utterances During Turn-Taking: The Role of Prediction, Response Preparation, and Articulation

Corps

Gambi

Pickering

2017

Discourse Processes

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During conversation, interlocutors rapidly switch between speaker and listener roles and take turns at talk. How do they achieve such fine coordination? Most research has concentrated on the role of prediction, but listeners must also prepare a response in advance (assuming they wish to respond) and articulate this response at the appropriate moment. Such mechanisms may overlap with the processes of comprehending the speaker's incoming turn and predicting its end. However, little is known about the stages of response preparation and production. We discuss three questions pertaining to such stages: (1) Do listeners prepare their own response in advance?, (2) Can listeners buffer their prepared response?, and (3) Does buffering lead to interference with concurrent comprehension? We argue that fine coordination requires more than just an accurate prediction of the interlocutor's incoming turn: Listeners must also simultaneously prepare their own response.

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On synchronous speech

Cited by 45 publications

References 6 publications

Social Origins of Rhythm? Synchrony and Temporal Regularity in Human Vocalization

Social Origins of Rhythm? Synchrony and Temporal Regularity in Human Vocalization

Prosodic planning: Effects of phrasal length and complexity on pause duration

Coordinating Utterances During Turn-Taking: The Role of Prediction, Response Preparation, and Articulation

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