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Results for “Speech Perception”

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At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

PubMed2005

Auditory-visual fusion in speech perception in children with cochlear implants.

Speech, for most of us, is a bimodal percept whenever we both hear the voice and see the lip movements of a speaker. Children who are born deaf never have this bimodal experience. We tested children who had been deaf from birth and who subsequently received cochlear implants for their ability to fuse the auditory information provided by their implants with visual information about lip movements for speech perception. For most of the children with implants (92%), perception was dominated by vision when visual and auditory speech information conflicted. For some, bimodal fusion was strong and consistent, demonstrating a remarkable plasticity in their ability to form auditory-visual associations despite the atypical stimulation provided by implants. The likelihood of consistent auditory-visual fusion declined with age at implant beyond 2.5 years, suggesting a sensitive period for bimodal integration in speech perception.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Selective adaptation effects in infant speech perception paradigms.

The present studies were conducted to explore the possible role of selective adaptation in infant speech perception. In the first study, in which the growth of adaptation was examined by presenting adult listeners with successive blocks of 20 repeating stimuli, reliable adaptation effects were observed after only 80 stimulus presentations. In addition, recovery following adaptation was relatively rapid and complete by the end of a postadaptation identification sequence. Experiment II constituted a more direct investigation of the possible role of adaptation in infant speech perception in which actual protocols from heart-rate (HR) and non-nutritive high-amplitude sucking (HAS) infant testing sessions were presented to adult listeners. Reliable adaptation effects were obtained within the HAS protocol, but not within the HR format. This pattern of results was consistent with that observed in experiment I. The implications of these adult adaptation results for the processes underlying the infant's responsiveness to these stimulis were discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Electrophysiological evidence for early interaction between talker and linguistic information during speech perception.

This study combined behavioral and electrophysiological measurements to investigate interactions during speech perception between native phonemes and talker's voice. In a Garner selective attention task, participants either classified each sound as one of two native vowels ([epsilon] and [ae]), ignoring the talker, or as one of two male talkers, ignoring the vowel. The dimension to be ignored was held constant in baseline tasks and changed randomly across trials in filtering tasks. Irrelevant variation in talker produced as much filtering interference (i.e., poorer performance in filtering relative to baseline) in classifying vowels as vice versa, suggesting that the two dimensions strongly interact. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to identify the processing origin of the interference: an early disruption in extracting dimension-specific information or a later disruption in selecting appropriate responses. Processing in the filtering task was characterized by a sustained negativity starting 100 ms after stimulus onset and peaking 200 ms later. The early onset of this negativity suggests that interference originates in the cognitive effort required by listeners to extract dimension-specific information, a process that precedes response selection. In agreement with these findings, our results revealed numerous dimension-specific effects, most prominently in the filtering tasks.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1997

An exploration of why preschoolers perform differently than do adults in audiovisual speech perception tasks.

Preschoolers' perception of audiovisual speech is considerably less influenced by visual information than adults'. We test the hypothesis that experience correctly producing consonants plays a role in developing the underlying representation which mediates the perception of visible speech. We divided preschoolers into two groups: those who made substitution errors and those who did not. Using a newly developed methodology, we tested substituters, nonsubstituters, and adults in an auditory-only condition, a visual-only condition, and an audiovisual condition. There were no differences among groups in the auditory-only condition. Overall, children still showed less visual influence than adults. Among the children, substituters were poorer at lip-reading in the visual-only condition and showed less visual influence on the incongruent audiovisual tokens than did nonsubstituters. These results support our hypothesis that experience correctly producing consonants plays a role in the elaboration of the underlying representation.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

A software tool for auditory and speech perception experimentation.

A computer program capable of supporting auditory and speech perception experimentation is described. Given a continuum of acoustic stimuli, the program (Paradigm) allows the user to present those stimuli under different, well-known psychophysical paradigms (simple identification, identification with a rating scale, 2IAX, ABX, AXB, and oddity task). For discrimination tests, both high uncertainty (roving designs) and minimal psychophysical uncertainty (fixed designs) procedures are available. All the relevant time intervals can be precisely specified, and feedback is also available. Response times can be measured as well. Furthermore, the program stores subjects' responses and provides summaries of experimental results for both individual subjects and groups. The program runs on Microsoft Windows (3.1 or 95) on personal computers equipped with any soundboard.

Auditory Perception↗

PubMed2003

Auditory-evoked potential studies of cortical maturation in normal hearing and implanted children: correlations with changes in structure and speech perception.

Human auditory system maturation as assessed by means of auditory-evoked potential recording is compared to maturation of axon neurofilaments and some critical stages in speech perception. The parallels strongly suggest that the emergence of the N1 component reflects the maturation of the axons in layer II and upper layer III of the auditory cortex. This is also the time period during which the perception of speech in noise and degraded speech markedly improves. The absence of N1 in cochlear implant subjects who have been deaf for a period of at least 3 years below the age of 6 years suggests a critical period in the maturation of the upper cortical layers and potentially poor future performance in the perception of masked and degraded speech.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Temporal and spatio-temporal vibrotactile displays for voice fundamental frequency: an initial evaluation of a new vibrotactile speech perception aid with normal-hearing and hearing-impaired individuals.

Four experiments were performed to evaluate a new wearable vibrotactile speech perception aid that extracts fundamental frequency (F0) and displays the extracted F0 as a single-channel temporal or an eight-channel spatio-temporal stimulus. Specifically, we investigated the perception of intonation (i.e., question versus statement) and emphatic stress (i.e., stress on the first, second, or third word) under Visual-Alone (VA), Visual-Tactile (VT), and Tactile-Alone (TA) conditions and compared performance using the temporal and spatio-temporal vibrotactile display. Subjects were adults with normal hearing in experiments I-III and adults with severe to profound hearing impairments in experiment IV. Both versions of the vibrotactile speech perception aid successfully conveyed intonation. Vibrotactile stress information was successfully conveyed, but vibrotactile stress information did not enhance performance in VT conditions beyond performance in VA conditions. In experiment III, which involved only intonation identification, a reliable advantage for the spatio-temporal display was obtained. Differences between subject groups were obtained for intonation identification, with more accurate VT performance by those with normal hearing. Possible effects of long-term hearing status are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Auditory cortical activation and speech perception in cochlear implant users: effects of implant experience and duration of deafness.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between outcome following cochlear implantation and auditory cortical activation. It also studied the effects of length of implant use and duration of deafness on the auditory cortical activations. Cortical activity resulting from auditory stimulation was measured using [(18)F]FDG positron emission tomography. In a group of 18 experienced adult cochlear implant users, we found a positive correlation between speech perception and activations in both the primary and association auditory cortices. This correlation was present in a subgroup of experienced implant users but absent in a group of new implant users with similar speech perception abilities. There was a significant negative correlation between duration of deafness and auditory cortical activation. This study gives insights into the relationship between implant speech perception and auditory cortical activation and the influence of duration of preceding deafness and implant experience.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Speech perception in infancy predicts language development in the second year of life: a longitudinal study.

Infants' early phonetic perception is hypothesized to play an important role in language development. Previous studies have not assessed this potential link in the first 2 years of life. In this study, speech discrimination was measured in 6-month-old infants using a conditioned head-turn task. At 13, 16, and 24 months of age, language development was assessed in these same children using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory. Results demonstrated significant correlations between speech perception at 6 months of age and later language (word understanding, word production, phrase understanding). The finding that speech perception performance at 6 months predicts language at 2 years supports the idea that phonetic perception may play an important role in language acquisition.

Child↗

PubMed1997

Open-set speech perception in congenitally deaf children using cochlear implants.

OBJECTIVE: To assess and document the development of open-set speech recognition in congenitally deaf children implanted with the Nucleus multichannel cochlear prosthesis at < 5 years of age. STUDY DESIGN: The study group consisted of 38 consecutively chosen children in whom the decision to proceed with implantation had already been made. PATIENTS AND SETTING: Congenitally profoundly deaf children were implanted with the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implant at < 5 years of age and followed at NYU Medical Center for a period of 1-5 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Open-set speech perception was evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively using the following: the Glendonald Auditory Screening Procedure (GASP) word subset, the GASP sentence subtest, Phonetically Balanced Kindergarten monosyllabic word lists, Common Phrases test, Multisyllabic Lexical Neighborhood test, and Lexical Neighborhood test. RESULTS: Correlation coefficients were calculated between scores at each interval and age at implantation; one-way analyses of variance were performed independently. Results showed that all subjects had significant open-set speech recognition at the time of the last postoperative evaluation. Thirty-seven of the children use oral language as their sole means of communication. CONCLUSIONS: Multichannel cochlear implants provide significant and usable open-set speech perception in congenitally deaf children given implants at < 5 years of age.

Auditory Threshold↗

PubMed1986

Speech perception through FM auditory trainers in noise and reverberation.

Speech perception through FM auditory trainers was explored in conditions of noise and reverberation. Special attention was paid to the mode of transmission and individual capabilities of various commercially-available units to handle speech in noise and reverberation. Results indicate an overwhelming advantage of FM transmission for maintaining speech intelligibility in noise and reverberation, irrespective of the instrument.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1997

Speech perception performance of children with a cochlear implant compared to that of children with conventional hearing aids. II. Results of prelingually deaf children.

In a previous paper, a method was introduced to transform the results obtained by children with a cochlear implant (CI) on a battery of speech perception tests into an overall value, the "equivalent hearing loss" value. This was achieved by matching the speech perception test scores with those of a reference group of children with conventional hearing aids and hearing loss ranging from 50 to 130 dB hearing level (HL). The equivalent hearing loss values of 16 prelingually deaf children with a CI were plotted as a function of time. There was considerable spread in the rate of progress made by the children in terms of the equivalent hearing loss values. The variables studied, age at onset of deafness/duration of deafness (in the present study, these two factors were indistinguishable) and the communication mode used at the children's school, accounted for 64% of the variance in speech perception performance. A plateau in the performance of the better performers was found which seemed to be caused by the level of hearing (the aided thresholds) with the CI.

Age of Onset↗

PubMed1999

Speech perception of young children using nucleus 22-channel or CLARION cochlear implants.

This study compares the auditory perceptual skill development of 23 congenitally deaf children who received the Nucleus 22-channel cochlear implant with the SPEAK speech coding strategy, and 20 children who received the CLARION Multi-Strategy Cochlear Implant with the Continuous Interleaved Sampler (CIS) speech coding strategy. All were under 5 years old at implantation. Preimplantation, there were no significant differences between the groups in age, length of hearing aid use, or communication mode. Auditory skills were assessed at 6 months and 12 months after implantation. Postimplantation, the mean scores on all speech perception tests were higher for the Clarion group. These differences were statistically significant for the pattern perception and monosyllable subtests of the Early Speech Perception battery at 6 months, and for the Glendonald Auditory Screening Procedure at 12 months. Multiple regression analysis revealed that device type accounted for the greatest variance in performance after 12 months of implant use. We conclude that children using the CIS strategy implemented in the Clarion implant may develop better auditory perceptual skills during the first year postimplantation than children using the SPEAK strategy with the Nucleus device.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed2003

Gaze behavior in audiovisual speech perception: the influence of ocular fixations on the McGurk effect.

We conducted three experiments in order to examine the influence of gaze behavior and fixation on audiovisual speech perception in a task that required subjects to report the speech sound they perceived during the presentation of congruent and incongruent (McGurk) audiovisual stimuli. Experiment 1 showed that the subjects' natural gaze behavior rarely involved gaze fixations beyond the oral and ocular regions of the talker's face and that these gaze fixations did not predict the likelihood of perceiving the McGurk effect. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that manipulation of the subjects' gaze fixations within the talker's face did not influence audiovisual speech perception substantially and that it was not until the gaze was displaced beyond 10 degrees - 20 degrees from the talker's mouth that the McGurk effect was significantly lessened. Nevertheless, the effect persisted under such eccentric viewing conditions and became negligible only when the subject's gaze was directed 60 degrees eccentrically. These findings demonstrate that the analysis of high spatial frequency information afforded by direct oral foveation is not necessary for the successful processing of visual speech information.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Speech perception with a single-channel cochlear implant: a comparison with a single-channel tactile device.

Suprasegmental and segmental speech perception tasks were administered to 8 patients with single-channel cochlear implants. Suprasegmental tasks included the recognition of syllable number, syllabic stress, and intonation. Segmental tasks included the recognition of vowels and consonants in three modalities: visual only, implant only, and visual + implant. Results were compared to those obtained from artificially deafened adults using a single-channel vibrotactile device. The patterns of responses for both suprasegmental and segmental tasks were highly similar for both groups of subjects, despite differences between the characteristics of the subject samples. These results suggest that single-channel sensory devices, whether they be cochlear implants or vibrotactile aids, produce similar patterns of speech perception errors, even when differences are observed in overall performance level.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Speech perception results for children with implants with different levels of preoperative residual hearing.

OBJECTIVE: Many reports have established that hearing-impaired children using the Nucleus 22-channel cochlear implant may show both significant benefits to lipreading and significant scores on open-set words and sentences using electrical stimulation only. These findings have raised questions about whether severely or severely-to-profoundly deaf children should be candidates for cochlear implants. To study this question, postoperative results for implanted children with different levels of preoperative residual hearing were evaluated in terms of speech perception benefits. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: A retrospective study of the first 117 children, sequentially, to undergo implantation in the Melbourne and Sydney Cochlear Implant Clinics was undertaken. All children had been assessed by and received their implants in a tertiary referral centre. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To assess aided residual hearing, the children were grouped into four categories of hearing on the basis of their aided residual hearing thresholds measured preoperatively. To assess benefits, the scores of children on standard speech perception tests were reviewed. As different tests were used for children with different ages and language skills, children were grouped into categories according to the level of postoperative speech perception benefit. RESULTS: The results showed that children in the higher categories of aided preoperative residual hearing showed significant scores on open-set word and sentence perception tests using the implant alone. For children in lower categories of aided residual hearing, results were variable within the groups. More than 90% of children with implants with aided residual hearing thresholds in the speech range above 1 kHz achieved open-set understanding of words and sentences. CONCLUSION: While the results of this preliminary study confirm previous findings of differential outcomes for children with different levels of preoperative residual hearing, they suggest that children with severe to profound hearing impairments should be considered for cochlear implantation.

Auditory Threshold↗

PubMed1997

Speech perception by prelingually deaf children using cochlear implants.

In this investigation we measured the performance of 50 prelingually deaf children on several speech perception tests. Children were from 2 to 15 years of age, and some children were tested with as much as 5 years of cochlear implant use. Speech perception tests included the recognition of stress pattern, consonants, vowels, words, and sentences. The audiovisual perception of consonants was also measured. Average results indicated that gains were being made in the perception of stress and words in a closed-set context within 1 year from implantation. The perception of words in an open-set context demonstrated much slower increases over time. Large individual differences were observed. Some preliminary data suggest that children who receive implants before the age of 4 years obtain higher scores, on average, than children who receive implants after the age of 5 years. Some children become part-time users or nonusers of their cochlear implants. The average results from 18 congenitally deaf children were significantly higher than the average results from 12 children with prelingually acquired deafness after 3 years of implant use. Information on vowel and consonant features shows increases in performance after 2 years of cochlear implant use, with the exception of the place feature. For this feature, no changes were observed. Vision-alone testing indicated that lipreading performance increased over time. An audiovisual enhancement provided by the cochlear implant was observed for all features.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

"Soundmorphing": a new approach to studying speech perception in humans.

A problem in current studies of brain activation in speech perception is that most studies use stimuli that are sampled from different categories. This study presents a new approach in creating acoustic stimuli by filtering real words in different ways, thus this enables one to 'morph' the sounds gradually from something like tones to real words while preserving temporal characteristics ("soundmorphing"). This will make it possible to explore steps between tone and speech processing on a gradual scale. This study aimed to investigate more closely the network, involved in the perception of speech and the decoding of auditory (speech-)stimuli. Sets of auditory stimuli were created by dividing real words into several frequency-bands and creating a randomised rearrangement of these components. Four different sets of stimuli were used, containing 1, 2, 3 or 4 frequency bands (total range: 0-2500 Hz). Only the latter one contained intelligible words. During the fMRI session, these four trial types were presented pseudo-randomised. In all conditions, significant activations of auditory cortex were observed. The number of activated voxels and their significance increased over the four trial types. In addition, Broca's area, SMA, left thalamus, and right cerebellum were activated in the most complex and most speech-like condition. Comparing these complexes with the tone-like trials, only the left auditory cortex, left SMA, and cingulate gyrus became significant. These activations reflect the bilateral processing of the auditory stimuli, but only the left temporal areas demonstrated an increasing BOLD response with an increasing number of presented frequency components.

Acoustic Stimulation↗