Abstract
Bastian, Eimas, & Liberman (1961) found that listeners heard a [p] when a silence of more than 50ms was inserted between the [s] and the [l] in a recording of the word slit. It has long been known that silence is an important cue in stop consonant perception. Nevertheless, it is surprising that a short interval of silence can substitute for something as acoustically and articulatorily complex as a phoneme. In the present work, we replicate and expand upon this study to further examine the phenomenon of silence-cued stop perception. We demonstrate the ‘Split Effect’ in a previously unexplored set of environments, analyze factors that contribute to the identity of silence-cued stops, and lay the groundwork for further investigation of the acoustic and non-acoustic factors that contribute to this perceptual illusion. Our study demonstrates an experimental paradigm for studying the genesis of such effects synchronically and in a controlled setting.
Highlights
Bastian, Eimas, & Liberman (1961) found that listeners heard a [p] when a silence of more than 50ms was inserted between the [s] and the [l] in a recording of the word slit
Perceptual illusions that emerge during speech perception provide a window into the way humans process auditory input and the special manner in which sounds identified as speech are interpreted
These findings suggest that the perceptual system deals with speech in a highly specialized way, and that when this speech perception mechanism is at work, it triggers a number of speechspecific processes that cannot be consciously circumvented
Summary
Bastian, Eimas, & Liberman (1961) found that listeners heard a [p] when a silence of more than 50ms was inserted between the [s] and the [l] in a recording of the word slit. Werker & Tees (1984) found that a non-native phonemic contrast could be reliably distinguished by English listeners in an acoustic discrimination task, but not when they understood they were hearing linguistic stimuli These findings suggest that the perceptual system deals with speech in a highly specialized way, and that when this speech perception mechanism is at work, it triggers a number of speechspecific processes that cannot be consciously circumvented. Some parameters are more perceptually salient than others, in certain environments or listening conditions, leading to a hierarchy of importance for these parameters in the ultimate assignment of a sound to a particular phonemic category (Wright 2001) This complex system of categorization and abstraction enables the appropriate labeling of phonemes despite the wide fluctuations in the acoustic input received, but it introduces the possibility of phenomena like the Split Effect. These stimuli still sounded natural, and the data suggest that altering the frication in this way may have enhanced rather than reduced the perceptual illusion
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
