Formant discrimination in femalelike vowels as a function of F1−F0 Bark distance

Abstract

Hughes and Diehl [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 2978(A) (1994)] reported that discrimination of first formant frequency for both single and multiple formant stimuli was strongly influenced by both a formant/harmonic interaction and F1−F0 Bark distance. No evidence for a peak in discriminability near F1−F0=3.0–3.5 Bark was observed, however. The current study extended these findings to stimuli more characteristic of female talkers. Listeners performed a formant discrimination task on one of five series of four-formant stimuli varying in F1−F0 distance. F1 ranged from 3.2 to 7.7 Bark within a series, and F0 from 1.75 to 2.75 Bark between series. Preliminary results confirm both the strength of the formant/harmonic interaction and the lack of a peak in discriminability at F1−F0=3.0–3.5 Bark. Results also point up the need for a more adequate characterization of how formant frequency is represented in the auditory system. [Work supported by NIDCD.]