Speech and the problem of perceptual constancy.
| Number | 193 |
|---|---|
| Year | 1977 |
| Drawer | 4 |
| Entry Date | 09/08/1998 |
| Authors | Shankweiler, D. P., Strange, W., & Verbrugge, R. R. |
| Contact | |
| Publication | In R. E. Shaw & J. D. Branford (Eds.), Perceiving, acting, and knowing: Toward an ecological psychology. Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum |
| url | http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL0193.pdf |
| Abstract | Speech signals are intrinsically variable for many reasons. In this paper we consider the implications of variability for a theory of vowel perception. Current theories of the vowel emphasize the relational nature of the acoustic cues since no absolute values of formant frequencies could unambiguously distinguish vowels produced by different talkers and in different phonetic contexts. It has been assumed that the perceptual process of vowel identification includes a normalization stage whereby the listener calibrates his perceptual apparatus for each talker, according to some reference derived from preceding utterances by that talker. We have been unable to obtain evidence for such a perceptual mechanism. Theories of vowel perception have failed to give due weight to the richness of the natural speech signal. We attempt to show why the invariant acoustic information that specifies a vowel cannot be found in a temporal cross section, but can only be specified over time. |
| Notes |
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