Can simultaneous presentation of print influence the detection of speech in noise

Abstract

When spoken words are masked by noise having the same amplitude envelope, subjects report they hear the word much more clearly when they see its printed version at the same time. Using signal detection methodology, it was investigated whether this subjective impression reflects a change in perceptual sensitivity or in bias. Signal‐plus‐noise and noise‐only trials were accompanied by matching print, nonmatching (but structurally similar) print, or a neutral visual stimulus. These results revealed a strong bias effect: The matching visual input apparently made the masking noise sound more speechlike, but it did not improve the detectability of the speech. (However, reaction times of correct detections were reliably shorter in the matching condition, suggesting perhaps a subliminal facilitation.) The bias effect was much smaller when nonwords were substituted for the words. Thus it seems that subjects automatically detect correspondences between speech amplitude envelopes and printed stimuli, and they do this more efficiently when the printed stimuli are real words. This supports the hypothesis, much discussed in the reading literature, that printed words are immediately translated into an internal representation having speechlike characteristics. [Work supported by NICHD.]