Auditory Perception Of Speech

Auditory Analysis and Perception of Speech ...

Although speech is the primary behavioral medium by which humans communicate, its auditory basis is poorly understood, having profound implications on efforts to ameliorate the behavioral consequences of hearing impairment and on the development of robust algorithms for computer speech recognition. In this volume, the authors provide an up-to-date synthesis of recent research in the area of speech processing in the auditory system, bringing together a diverse range of scientists to present the subject from an interdisciplinary perspective. Of particular concern is the ability to understand speech in uncertain, potentially adverse acoustic environments, currently the bane of both hearing aid and speech recognition technology. There is increasing evidence that the perceptual stability characteristic of speech understanding is due, at least in part, to elegant transformations of the acoustic signal performed by auditory mechanisms. As a comprehensive review of speech's auditory basis, this book will interest physiologists, anatomists, psychologists, phoneticians, computer scientists, biomedical and electrical engineers, and clinicians.

Spoken language communication is arguably the most important activity that distinguishes humans from nonhuman species. While many animal species communicate and exchange information using sound, humans are unique in the complexity of the information that can be conveyed using speech, and in the range of ideas, thoughts and emotions that can be expressed. Despite the importance of speech communication for the entire structure of human society, there are many aspects of this process that are not fully understood. One problem is that research on speech and language is typically carried out by different groups of scientists working on separate aspects of the underlying functional and neural systems. On the one hand, research from an auditory perspective focuses on the acoustical properties of speech sounds, their representation in the auditory system, and how that representation is used to extract phonetic information. On the other hand, research from psycholinguistic perspectives examines the processes by which representations of meaning are extracted from the acoustic-phonetic sequence, and how these are linked to the construction of higher-level linguistic interpretation in terms of sentences and discourse. Till now, there has been relatively little interaction between speech researchers from these two groups, in spite of a dramatic expansion in recent years of research into the neural bases of auditory and linguistic functions. This book bridges the gap between these two lines of research, recognising that both have the same aims in understanding how the motor gestures of a speaker are transformed to sounds and how those are mapped onto meaning in the comprehension of spoken language. It presents the work of leading researchers specializing in a wide range of topics within speech perception and language processing - along with contributions from key researchers in neuroanatomy and neuro-imaging. This important new work cuts through the traditional boundaries and fosters crossdisciplinary interactions in this important and rapidly developing area of the biological and cognitive sciences.

This revised and updated third edition describes the nature of sound, how sound is analyzed by the auditory system, and the rules and principles governing our interpretation of auditory input. It covers many topics including sound and the auditory system, locating sound sources, the basis for loudness judgments, perception of acoustic sequences, perceptual restoration of obliterated sounds, speech production and perception, and the relation of hearing to perception in general. Whilst keeping the consistent style of the previous editions, many new features have been added, including suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, a section on functional imaging of the brain, expanded information on pitch and infrapitch, and additional coverage of speech processing. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students interested in auditory perception, behavioral sciences, psychology, neurobiology, architectural acoustics, and the hearing sciences will find this book an excellent guide.

Auditory Perception of Sound Sources covers higher-level auditory processes that are perceptual processes. The chapters describe how humans and other animals perceive the sounds that they receive from the many sound sources existing in the world. This book will provide an overview of areas of current research involved with understanding how sound-source determination processes operate. This book will focus on psychophysics and perception as well as being relevant to basic auditory research. Contents: Perceiving Sound Sources: An Overview William A. Yost Human Sound Source Identification Robert A. Lutfi Size Information in the Production and Perception of Communication Sounds Roy D. Patterson, David R. R. Smith, Ralph van Dinther, and Tom Walters The role of memory in auditory perception Laurent Demany, and Catherine Semal Auditory Attention and Filters Ervin R. Hafter, Anastasios Sarampalis, and Psyche Loui Informational masking Gerald Kidd Jr., Christine R. Mason, Virginia M. Richards, Frederick J. Gallun, and Nathaniel I. Durlach Effects of harmonicity and regularity on the perception of sound sources Robert P. Carlyon, and Hedwig E. Gockel Spatial Hearing and Perceiving Sources Christopher J. Darwin Envelope Processing and Sound-Source Perception Stanley Sheft Speech as a Sound Source Andrew J. Lotto, and Sarah C. Sullivan Sound Source Perception and Stream Segregation in Non-human Vertebrate Animals Richard R. Fay About the editors: William A. Yost, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, Adjunct Professor of Hearing Sciences of the Parmly Hearing Institute, and Adjunct Professor of Otolaryngology at Loyola University of Chicago. Arthur N. Popper is Professor in the Department of Biology and Co-Director of the Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing at the University of Maryland, College Park. Richard R. Fay is Director of the Parmly Hearing Institute and Professor of Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago. About the series: The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of synthetic reviews of fundamental topics dealing with auditory systems. Each volume is independent and authoritative; taken as a set, this series is the definitive resource in the field.

Auditory Perception: A New Synthesis focuses on the effort to show the connections between key areas in hearing. The book offers a review of classical problems, and then presents interpretations and evidence of this topic. A short introduction to the physical nature of sound and the way sound is transmitted and changed within the ear is provided. The book discusses the importance of being able to identify the source of a sound, and then presents processes in this regard. The text provides information on the organs involved in the identification of sound and discusses pitch and infrapitch and the manner by which their loudness can be measured. Scales are presented to show the loudness of sound. The relationship of hearing with other senses is also discussed. The text also outlines how speech is produced, taking into consideration the organs involved in the process. The book is a valuable source of data for research scientists and other professionals who are involved in hearing and speech.

Plomp's Aspects of Tone Sensation--published 25 years ago--dealt with the psychophysics of simple and complex tones. Since that time, auditory perception as a field of study has undergone a radical metamorphosis. Technical and methodological innovations, as well as a considerable increase in attention to the various aspects of auditory experience, have changed the picture profoundly. This book is an attempt to account for this development by giving a comprehensive survey of the present state of the art as a whole. Perceptual aspects of hearing, particularly of understanding speech as the main auditory input signal, are thoroughly reviewed.