Integral processing in phoneme perception

Abstract

To investigate the extent and locus of integral processing occurring in speech perception, a speeded classification task was utilized with a set of noise‐tone analogs of the fricative‐vowel combinations [fae], [shae], [fu], and [shu]. Subjects were instructed to either treat the stimuli as speech or nonspeech. Results showed that within a nonspeech mode, noise and tone identity were processed in a separable manner. However, in a speech mode, the same stimuli were asymmetrically integral. Utilizing the same task, two sets of naturally spoken fricative‐vowel syllables were tested: one which contained coarticulatory information, and one which did not. Results for these stimuli showed that the noncoarticulated syllables also exhibited asymmetric integrality, while the coarticulated stimuli showed symmetric integrality. These results support an interpretation of phonetic coding where knowledge of coarticulation (or its acoustic consequences) is a basic element of speech mode perception. Furthermore, the use of t...