Examining the effect of first formant transition on perception of dynamic spectral change in the second formant

Abstract

Speech perception studies using methods such as formant-flattening and the silent-center paradigm have demonstrated that vowel-inherent spectral change (VISC) in speech-like stimuli adds significant information aiding in accurate phoneme identification. For listeners to reliably utilize this cue, formant extent thresholds must be smaller than transitions occurring in natural syllables. Although natural speech always involves movement of multiple formants over time, limited studies have determined formant transition thresholds in the context of competing formant movement. The purpose of this study was to begin to examine these interactions by determining the effect of F1-region transitions on perception of change in F2 (ΔF2). Listeners were presented 120 ms, two-formant stimuli approximating a vocoid F1/F2 configuration using a 4-interval, 2AFC, two-down/one-up adaptive paradigm. The first formant pivoted around a 500 Hz center frequency, and the second around 1500Hz. Thresholds for detection of both upwar...