The Goldilocks Zone of Perceptual Learning

Babel, Molly; McAuliffe, Michael; Norton, Carolyn; Senior, Brianne; Vaughn, Charlotte

doi:10.1159/000494929

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…During a subsequent test, listeners categorize sounds along a phonetic continuum (e.g., ranging from /f/ to /s/ in Eisner & McQueen, 2005). If exposure and test employ the same talker, this type of paradigm elicits what is known as perceptual recalibration: After exposure to atypical /f/, for example, more sounds along the /f/-/s/ continuum will be categorized as /f/ (e.g., Babel et al, 2019; Drouin et al, 2016; Eisner & McQueen, 2006; Kraljic & Samuel, 2005; Norris et al, 2003; Vroomen et al, 2007). If the exposure and test talker differ, however, such perceptual recalibration does not always carry over to the test talker.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-talker generalization in the perception of nonnative speech: A large-scale replication.

Xie¹,

Liu²

2021

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Speech perception depends on the ability to generalize previously experienced input effectively across talkers. How such cross-talker generalization is achieved has remained an open question. In a seminal study, Bradlow & Bent (2008, henceforth BB08) found that exposure to just 5 min of accented speech can elicit improved recognition that generalizes to an unfamiliar talker of the same accent (N = 70 participants). Cross-talker generalization was, however, only observed after exposure to multiple talkers of the accent, not after exposure to a single accented talker. This contrast between single-and multitalker exposure has been highly influential beyond research on speech perception, suggesting a critical role of exposure variability in learning and generalization. We assess the replicability of BB08's findings in two large-scale perception experiments (total N = 640) including 20 unique combinations of exposure and test talkers. Like BB08, we find robust evidence for cross-talker generalization after multitalker exposure. Unlike BB08, we also find evidence for generalization after single-talker exposure. The degree of cross-talker generalization depends on the specific combination of exposure and test talker. This and other recent findings suggest that exposure to cross-talker variability is not necessary for cross-talker generalization. Variability during exposure might affect generalization only indirectly, mediated through the informativeness of exposure about subsequent speech during test: Similarity-based inferences can explain both the original BB08 and the present findings. We present Bayesian data analysis, including Bayesian meta-analyses and replication tests for generalized linear mixed models. All data, stimuli, and reproducible literate (R markdown) code are shared via OSF.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-talker generalization in the perception of nonnative speech: A large-scale replication.

Xie¹,

Liu²

2021

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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“…Building such a stage into our models allows us to account for asymmetries in adaptation that ostensibly relate to the magnitude of experienced category deviation. While we remain agnostic between the two opposing proposals, the degree to which lexical activation feeds back or merges with a phonemic category to allow a sufficient signalto-phoneme mapping update may be determined by the certainty or confidence in the lexical assessment and deviant sound's category goodness (Babel, McAuliffe, et al, 2019). Ultimately, the current results demonstrate that subphonemic changes with which listeners have linguistic experience facilitate targeted adjustments in the direction of that experience, while novel changes seem to spur a more general relaxation of criteria for the category.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is important to broach the question of how degree of deviation might limit or constrain the ease with which listeners adapt-or even whether they adapt at all. There are limitations on the acoustic similarity of what kind of substitution is acceptable while still allowing for perceptual adaptation (e.g., Witteman et al, 2013;Babel, McAuliffe, Norton, Senior, & Vaughn, 2019), as is the case with other behaviours that showcase perceptual flexibility (e.g., the phoneme restoration effect; Samuel, 1981). Though note, it is possible that simply increasing the amount of exposure may provide a boost in learning for highly divergent pronunciations.…”

Section: Perceptual Adjustments To Phonemic Categoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Babel

Johnson

Sen

2021

Laboratory Phonology

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This paper examines two plausible mechanisms supporting sound category adaptation: directional shifts towards the novel pronunciation or a general category relaxation of criteria. Focusing on asymmetries in adaptation to the voicing patterns of English coronal fricatives, we suggest that typology or synchronic experience affect adaptation. A corpus study of coronal fricative substitution patterns confirmed that North American English listeners are more likely to be exposed to devoiced /z/ than voiced /s/. Across two perceptual adaptation experiments, listeners in test conditions heard naturally produced devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/ in critical items within sentences, while control listeners were exposed to identical sentences with canonical pronunciations. Perceptual adaptation was tested via a lexical decision test, with devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/, as well as a novel alveopalatalized pronunciation, to determine whether adaptation was targeted in the direction of the exposed variant or reflected a more general relaxation. Results indicate there was directional and word-specific adaptation for /z/-devoicing with no evidence for generalization. Conversely, there was evidence of /s/-voicing generalizing and eliciting general category relaxation. These results underscore the role of perceptual experiences, and support an evaluation stage in perceptual learning, where listeners assess whether to update a representation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Babel¹,

Johnson²,

Sen³

2020

Preprint

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Listeners need to accommodate pronunciations that vary widely. Lexically-guided perceptual adaptation has been well documented in the literature, but relatively little is known about its limits. Moreover, there are at least two plausible mechanisms supporting adaptation for sound categories: targeted shifts towards the novel pronunciation or a general relaxation of criteria. This paper examines a limit of perceptual adaptation — asymmetries in adaptation to the voicing and devoicing of coronal fricatives in English — and suggests that typology or synchronic experience affects how listeners adapt. A corpus study of coronal fricative substitution patterns confirmed that North American English listeners are more likely to be exposed to devoiced /z/ than voiced /s/. Across two perceptual adaptation experiments, listeners in test conditions head naturally produced devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/ in critical items within sentences, while control listeners were exposed to identical sentences with canonical fricative pronunciations. Perceptual adaptation was tested via word endorsement rates in a lexical decision test, with devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/, as well as a novel alveopalatalized pronunciation, to determine whether adaptation was targeted in the direction of the exposed variant or reflected more general relaxation. Results indicate there was targeted and word-specific adaptation for /z/ devoicing. Conversely, there was some evidence of /s/ voicing eliciting a more general category relaxation. These results underscore the role of prior perceptual experiences, and suggest a need for an evaluation stage in lexically-guided perceptual learning, where listeners assess whether a heard item merits an update to the representation.

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The Goldilocks Zone of Perceptual Learning

Cited by 8 publications

References 49 publications

Cross-talker generalization in the perception of nonnative speech: A large-scale replication.

Cross-talker generalization in the perception of nonnative speech: A large-scale replication.

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

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