The Effect of Masking on SPL and Intraoral Air Pressure during Vocal and Whispered Speech

Abstract

Last year at this convention the present investigators reported findings indicating that speakers increased their spl and intraoral air pressure with increases in a binaural masking noise even though they had been instructed to speak in a constant manner regardless of the presence or absence of noise. The present investigation was a further consideration of the effects of masking (i.e., auditory feedback) on articulatory performance. During the speakers' repetitions of sentences, a masking noise was presented through earphones at several SPLs (up to 107 dB). The speakers were instructed to ignore the masking noise and to repeat the sentences in a constant manner. Whispered sentences were included in order to reduce auditory feedback further, presumably bone conduction. Measures of average peak intraoral air pressure and SPL were made to determine the stability of the speakers' utterances. Again, SPL and intraoral air pressure were found to increase. However, these increases were slight, indicating that the speakers may have used sensory-motor information other than auditory to control their articulatory behavior.