Effects of speech rate upon the noise‐induced illusory continuity of interrupted discourse

Abstract

Bashford and Warren [Speech Communication Papers, Acoust. Soc. Am. (1979), pp. 423–426] reported that the noise‐induced illusory continuity of interrupted speech is greater for normal discourse than for contextually degraded speech. When normal discourse was periodically interrupted by a louder, spectrally matched noise, the maximum interruption period permitting illusory continuity approximated the average work duration in the passage. The present study replicated that finding with a different discourse passage produced by a different speaker and played back at different rates. When the passage was played at its original speed, the limit of illusory continuity averaged 279 ms, or 95% of the average word duration. When playback rate was decreased 15%, the continuity limit increased 12.3% and equaled 93% of the average word duration. A 15% increase in playback rate produced a 17.7% decrease in continuity, with periodic interruptions equal to 92% of the average word duration. These results appear to be rela...