Speech Perception Processing Research Articles

The Impact of Phonological Variation on Speech Perception and

Purpose: The general aim of the study was to examine the impact of phonological variation on speech perception and production.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to phonological variation on speech perception and production. Preliminary empirical review revealed that that phonological variation significantly influences both speech perception and production processes. It highlighted the complex interplay between phonological variation, social factors, cultural context, and cognitive mechanisms. Moreover, the study emphasized the importance of addressing phonological variation in language education, clinical practice, and intercultural communication to promote inclusive communication practices in diverse settings. Overall, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of language diversity and its implications for communication.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Labov's theory of Variationist Sociolinguistics, Optimality theory and Speech Accommodation theory may be used to anchor future studies on phonological variation on speech perception and production. The study provided valuable recommendations that contributed to theoretical understanding, practical communication outcomes, and language policy decisions. It integrated insights from phonological variation research into linguistic theories, recommended the integration of phonological training into language instruction programs, and emphasized the importance of inclusive language policies. Additionally, the study suggested interventions to improve communication effectiveness, bridge communication gaps, address language disorders, and promote linguistic diversity. By incorporating these recommendations, stakeholders worked towards enhancing communication and fostering linguistic inclusivity across diverse linguistic contexts.

Long-term Functional Connectivity Alterations in the Mismatch Negativity, P300 and N400 Language Potentials in Adults with a Childhood Acquired Brain Injury

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate whether alterations in the functional connectivity of networks underlying phoneme perception and semantic-categorical processing persist in adulthood following childhood acquired brain injury (cABI). Methods EEG was recorded in seven adults with a cABI and seven matched controls during the administration of an inattentive and attentive phoneme-level oddball task and a categorical priming task. Functional connections underlying the mismatch negativity (MMN), P300 and N400 were compared between participant groups in five frequency bands by calculating the weighted phase lag index between 32 × 32 electrode pairs. Network modularity and path length were compared between the cABI and control group. Results We observed a positive network for MMN deviant processing in the low gamma band and N400 related processing in the alpha band, but a negative network for P300 standard processing in the theta band in cABI compared to control adults. No differences in graph measures of functional networks were observed between participant groups. Conclusions Alterations in the functional connectivity of speech perception and semantic-categorical processing networks persist in adulthood following cABI. Nevertheless, normal-like network properties in terms of local segregation and global integration are observed.

Will you read how I will read? Naturalistic fMRI predictors of emergent reading

Despite reading being an essential and almost universal skill in the developed world, reading proficiency varies substantially from person to person. To study why, the fMRI field is beginning to turn from single-word or nonword reading tasks to naturalistic stimuli like connected text and listening to stories. To study reading development in children just beginning to read, listening to stories is an appropriate paradigm because speech perception and phonological processing are important for, and are predictors of, reading proficiency. Our study examined the relationship between behavioral reading-related skills and the neural response to listening to stories in the fMRI environment. Functional MRI were gathered in a 3T TIM-Trio scanner. During the fMRI scan, children aged approximately 7 years listened to professionally narrated common short stories and answered comprehension questions following the narration. Analyses of the data used inter-subject correlation (ISC), and representational similarity analysis (RSA). Our primary finding is that ISC reveals areas of increased synchrony in both high- and low-performing emergent readers previously implicated in reading ability/disability. Of particular interest are that several previously identified brain regions (medial temporal gyrus (MTG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG)) were found to “synchronize” across higher reading ability participants, while lower reading ability participants had idiosyncratic activation patterns in these regions. Additionally, two regions (superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and another portion of ITG) were recruited by all participants, but their specific timecourse of activation depended on reading performance. These analyses support the idea that different brain regions involved in reading follow different developmental trajectories that correlate with reading proficiency on a spectrum rather than the usual dichotomy of poor readers versus strong readers.

Relationship between speech perception and cortical temporal information processing in noise

It has been known for many years that some listeners with normal hearing report difficulties in speech reception under the presence of competing sounds. The symptom is called hidden hearing loss. For the elucidation of the mechanism of hidden hearing loss, we examined the relationship between speech-in-noise reception performance and cortical temporal information processing. It has been reported that delta and theta oscillations were phase-locked to speech envelopes, and the synchronization depends on the intelligibility of degraded synthesized speech. However, it remains unclear whether and how the slow oscillations reflect speech-in-noise reception performances. We measured slow-rate (below 8 Hz) electroencephalogram (EEG) oscillations during speech reception under noise with different signal-to-noise ratio (-5 dB to -14 dB). In a control condition, EEG oscillations were measured by the same stimuli, but the participants watched a self-selected movie with subtitles, ignoring the stimuli. The power of the EEG oscillations during speech reception was stronger than those while participants ignored the stimuli. However, we did not find any dependences of the slow EEG oscillations on speech intelligibility changes associated with varying SNR. The enhancement of slow oscillations can be triggered by attention but is not likely to reflect listening effort driven by noise contamination.

Spoken Word Recognition: A Focus on Plasticity

Psycholinguists define spoken word recognition (SWR) as, roughly, the processes intervening between speech perception and sentence processing, whereby a sequence of speech elements is mapped to a phonological wordform. After reviewing points of consensus and contention in SWR, we turn to the focus of this review: considering the limitations of theoretical views that implicitly assume an idealized (neurotypical, monolingual adult) and static perceiver. In contrast to this assumption, we review evidence that SWR is plastic throughout the life span and changes as a function of cognitive and sensory changes, modulated by the language(s) someone knows. In highlighting instances of plasticity at multiple timescales, we are confronted with the question of whether these effects reflect changes in content or in processes, and we consider the possibility that the two are inseparable. We close with a brief discussion of the challenges that plasticity poses for developing comprehensive theories of spoken language processing.

Assessment of environmental sound perception among listeners with hearing loss and cochlear implants

Perception of environmental sounds (PES), encompassing informationally and/or aesthetically salient nonspeech, nonmusical sounds, is crucial for safety, independence, and quality-of-life among listeners with hearing loss. The aims of this study were (1) to systematically review methodologies used to assess PES among cochlear implant (CI) users and identify performance trends in this population, and (2) to present preliminary data using a novel PES task requiring inference of materials and actions generating environmental sounds. For aim 1, PES in quiet using open- or closed-set response formats were most commonly used. PES accuracy in pediatric (3 studies) and adult (16 studies) CI users was highly variable but generally mediocre (mean correct: 31–87%). Most studies were cross-sectional; only two evaluated PES prospectively before and after CI. No significant differences in accuracy were reported between CI candidates and CI users. PES correlated in with measures of speech perception and spectro-temporal processing. For aim 2, we present preliminary findings on identification of materials and actions responsible for generating environmental sounds among normal hearing listeners and listeners with hearing loss using hearing aids or CIs. We discuss the types of materials and actions that are most difficult for listeners with hearing loss and common sources of confusion.

Lexically Mediated Compensation for Coarticulation Still as Elusive as a White Christmash.

Luthra, Peraza-Santiago, Beeson, Saltzman, Crinnion, and Magnuson (2021) present data from the lexically mediated compensation for coarticulation paradigm that they claim provides conclusive evidence in favor of top-down processing in speech perception. We argue here that this evidence does not support that conclusion. The findings are open to alternative explanations, and we give data in support of one of them (that there is an acoustic confound in the materials). Lexically mediated compensation for coarticulation thus remains elusive, while prior data from the paradigm instead challenge the idea that there is top-down processing in online speech recognition.

Interrelation of Speech and Speech Perception and Comprehension of a Teenager with Special Language Development: A Case Study

In this paper we analyse and present the experimental results of the speech production and speech perception and understanding process in a case of bilingual teenager who even has the special syndrome (Velocardiofacial syndrome). The results are explained both in the linguistic and pedagogical aspects, so the possible pedagogical activity is also emphasized on the basis of the results.

The Effect of Hemodialysis on Spectral and Temporal Processing Abilities and Speech Perception in Noise among Individuals with Chronic Kidney Disease

Introduction: The effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on hearing is well documented in the literature. Several studies have investigated the effect of hemodialysis on the peripheral auditory system among individuals with CKD. However, studies investigating the effect of hemodialysis on speech perception and auditory processing abilities are limited. The present study investigated the effect of hemodialysis on few auditory processing abilities and speech perception in noise among adults with CKD. Methods: A total of 25 adults with CKD undergoing hemodialysis regularly participated in the study. Spectral ripple discrimination threshold (SRDT), gap detection threshold (GDT), amplitude-modulation detection threshold (AMDT), and speech recognition threshold in noise (SRTn) were measured before and after hemodialysis. Paired samples “t” test was carried out to investigate the effect of hemodialysis on thresholds. Results: Results showed a significant improvement for SRDT, GDT, AMDT, and SRTn after hemodialysis among individuals with CKD. Discussion: Hemodialysis showed a positive effect on speech perception in noise and auditory processing abilities among individuals with CKD.

The Development of Speaking and Singing in Infants May Play a Role in Genomics and Dementia in Humans.

The development of the central auditory system, including the auditory cortex and other areas involved in processing sound, is shaped by genetic and environmental factors, enabling infants to learn how to speak. Before explaining hearing in humans, a short overview of auditory dysfunction is provided. Environmental factors such as exposure to sound and language can impact the development and function of the auditory system sound processing, including discerning in speech perception, singing, and language processing. Infants can hear before birth, and sound exposure sculpts their developing auditory system structure and functions. Exposing infants to singing and speaking can support their auditory and language development. In aging humans, the hippocampus and auditory nuclear centers are affected by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, resulting in memory and auditory processing difficulties. As the disease progresses, overt auditory nuclear center damage occurs, leading to problems in processing auditory information. In conclusion, combined memory and auditory processing difficulties significantly impact people's ability to communicate and engage with their societal essence.

An Overview of Contrastive Analysis of Intonation and Structural-Semantic Characteristics of Disjunctive (Tag Questions) and Alternative Questions in English and Armenian

Key words: communication, interrogative sentences, intonation pattern, question-word, literary speech, colloquial speech, limited choice, comparative analysis In all languages intonation serves for the external colouring of speech because it is mainly by means of intonation we realize the character of the utterance, i. e, whether the utterance is a question or a declarative sentence (narrative). Moreover, by means of intonation we can express joy, surprise, displeasure or even irritation and anger. During the process of foreign speech-perception (even in case of good knowledge of language), finer shades of meaning uttered with unfamiliar intonation means are lost on the listener. The significance of complete oral speech-meaning presupposes the combination of corresponding proper grammar and lexical structures. Two aspects should be distinguished in intonation. The first aspect can be called communicative, as through intonation we express complete and non-complete statements, find out whether the uttered statements contain questions or responses and so forth. The second aspect can be called emotional, as intonation contains certain emotional colouring which expresses the emotional state of the speaker, sometimes the speaker’s intention ( not always fully perceived by him) to influence the imagination and the feelings of the listener. The present research article provides overview of comparative analysis of intonation and structural-semantic characteristics of Disjunctive and Alternative questions in English and Armenian. The contrastive analysis of the intonation and structural-semantic characteristics of the above mentioned questions in English and Armenian, first of all, presupposes the corresponding choice of communicative types of speech which on their turn determine the choice of the similar speaking (speech) situations. As a result of the analysis of the intonation and structural-semantic characteristics of Disjunctive and Alternative questions in English and Armenian, certain basic similarities and divergences are revealed in contrasted languages.

Deficient Audiovisual Speech Perception in Schizophrenia: An ERP Study.

In everyday verbal communication, auditory speech perception is often disturbed by background noise. Especially in disadvantageous hearing conditions, additional visual articulatory information (e.g., lip movement) can positively contribute to speech comprehension. Patients with schizophrenia (SZs) demonstrate an aberrant ability to integrate visual and auditory sensory input during speech perception. Current findings about underlying neural mechanisms of this deficit are inconsistent. Particularly and despite the importance of early sensory processing in speech perception, very few studies have addressed these processes in SZs. Thus, in the present study, we examined 20 adult subjects with SZ and 21 healthy controls (HCs) while presenting audiovisual spoken words (disyllabic nouns) either superimposed by white noise (-12 dB signal-to-noise ratio) or not. In addition to behavioral data, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Our results demonstrate reduced speech comprehension for SZs compared to HCs under noisy conditions. Moreover, we found altered N1 amplitudes in SZ during speech perception, while P2 amplitudes and the N1-P2 complex were similar to HCs, indicating that there may be disturbances in multimodal speech perception at an early stage of processing, which may be due to deficits in auditory speech perception. Moreover, a positive relationship between fronto-central N1 amplitudes and the positive subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) has been observed.

Words Listening Related Electroencephalography Spectrum Perturbations in Normally Developing Children and Sensory Alalia Children

The analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) event related spectrum perturbations in 23 normally developing and 23 sensory alalia children of age between 4 and 10 years old during listening to nouns is conducted. In EEG θ-frequency range of healthy children, synchronization was detected in the frontal, central, and temporal leads, and desynchronization was found in most leads in children with sensory alalia. Intergroup differences in the reactivity of the EEG θ-range reached the level of statistical significance in C4 lead. In the α‑range, EEG desynchronization was observed in typically developing children, and synchronization was observed in children with sensory alalia. Differences in the α-activity power reached the level of statistical significance in leads C3, F3, P3, O1. An EEG θ-band synchronization decrease during words listening in children with sensory alalia may reflect an impairment of retrieving words from memory and less emotional involvement in the speech perception process, while the absence of α-activity desynchronization in the central leads is a impairment of the functioning of sensorimotor neural networks, involved in the speech perception and generation. The revealed features of EEG reactivity are important for understanding the central speech perception mechanisms in normal children, as well as in children with disorders such as sensory alalia.

The domain-separation language network dynamics in resting state support its flexible functional segregation and integration during language and speech processing

Modern linguistic theories and network science propose that language and speech processing are organized into hierarchical, segregated large-scale subnetworks, with a core of dorsal (phonological) stream and ventral (semantic) stream. The two streams are asymmetrically recruited in receptive and expressive language or speech tasks, which showed flexible functional segregation and integration. We hypothesized that the functional segregation of the two streams was supported by the underlying network segregation. A dynamic conditional correlation approach was employed to construct framewise time-varying language networks and k-means clustering was employed to investigate the temporal-reoccurring patterns. We found that the framewise language network dynamics in resting state were robustly clustered into four states, which dynamically reconfigured following a domain-separation manner. Spatially, the hub distributions of the first three states highly resembled the neurobiology of speech perception and lexical-phonological processing, speech production, and semantic processing, respectively. The fourth state was characterized by the weakest functional connectivity and was regarded as a baseline state. Temporally, the first three states appeared exclusively in limited time bins (∼15%), and most of the time (> 55%), state 4 was dominant. Machine learning-based dFC-linguistics prediction analyses showed that dFCs of the four states significantly predicted individual linguistic performance. These findings suggest a domain-separation manner of language network dynamics in resting state, which forms a dynamic “meta-network” framework to support flexible functional segregation and integration during language and speech processing.

Facial Expressions as an Index of Listening Difficulty and Emotional Response.

Knowledge about listening difficulty experienced during a task can be used to better understand speech perception processes, to guide amplification outcomes, and can be used by individuals to decide whether to participate in communication. Another factor affecting these decisions is individuals' emotional response which has not been measured objectively previously. In this study, we describe a novel method of measuring listening difficulty and affect of individuals in adverse listening situations using automatic facial expression algorithm. The purpose of our study was to determine if facial expressions of confusion and frustration are sensitive to changes in listening difficulty. We recorded speech recognition scores, facial expressions, subjective listening effort scores, and subjective emotional responses in 33 young participants with normal hearing. We used the signal-to-noise ratios of -1, +2, and +5 dB SNR and quiet conditions to vary the difficulty level. We found that facial expression of confusion and frustration increased with increase in difficulty level, but not with change in each level. We also found a relationship between facial expressions and both subjective emotion ratings and subjective listening effort. Emotional responses in the form of facial expressions show promise as a measure of affect and listening difficulty. Further research is needed to determine the specific contribution of affect to communication in challenging listening environments.

The effects of background noise and reverberation on speech perception in cochlear implant users

Indoor noise and reverberation interfere with speech understanding for listeners. Degradation in cochlear implant (CI) processing presents additional challenges for CI users to understand noisy and reverberant speech. Inthis study, we investigated the effect of adverse acoustics on speech perception on three tasks that changed in difficulty and increasing need for top-down processing: (1) word recall, (2) sentence recognition, and (3) conversation comprehension. Each task was tested in five conditions that varied in combinations of adverse acoustics from reverberation (i.e., anechoic, 0.4s RT, vs 1.2s RT) and noise (i.e., quiet versus Speech-shaped-noise at −3dB). We compared performances from normal-hearing (NH) listeners and bilateral CI users between 15 and 25 years old. Preliminary results show that while NH listeners may have some tolerance for speech perception under adverse acoustics, CI users experienced more graded performance deterioration with increasing reverberation and noise. Moreover, we observed task-dependent performance change across adverse acoustic conditions in both NH and CI listeners: While some context (i.e., sentences) may help speech perception, comprehension based on pragmatic language processing (i.e., conversations) is vulnerable under difficult listening situations. These results provide insights on how NH and CI listeners differ in their access to top-down processing in real-world speech perception.

Vowel-initial glottalization as a prominence cue in speech perception and online processing

Three experiments examined the relevance of vowel-initial glottalization in the perception of vowel contrasts in American English, in light of the claimed prominence-marking function of glottalization in word-initial vowels. Experiment 1 showed that the presence of a preceding glottal stop leads listeners to re-calibrate their perception of a vowel contrast in line with the prominence-driven modulation of vowel formants. Experiment 2 manipulated cues to glottalization along a continuum and found that subtler cues generate the same effect, with bigger perceptual shifts as glottalization cues increase in strength. Experiment 3 examined the timecourse of this effect in a visual world eyetracking task, finding a rapid influence of glottalization which is simultaneous with the influence of formant cues in online processing. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of phonetically detailed prominence marking in speech perception, and implications for models of processing which consider segmental and prosodic information jointly.

ФОРМУВАННЯ КОМУНІКАТИВНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ УЧНІВ: ПСИХОЛІНГВОДИДАКТИЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ

The article describes the psycholinguistic factors that are important for the formation of students' communicative competence, and substantiates their specific features and the need for implementation in the language education system. The features of the speech activity of a linguistic personality are considered. All types of speech activity form the basis of communication as a psycho-cognitive activity of generating one's own utterance and perceiving someone else's speech (text/discourse) in a particular communicative situation. The process of creating one's own utterance is analyzed, and the main stages of its generation are determined (pre-communicative, communicative, and post-communicative). The features of speech creation as an individual communicative act are explained, and models of speech activity related to the phased process of speech generation are analyzed. The article considers an analytical model of communication, consisting of three interconnected sides: communicative, interactive and perceptual. The substantiated process of communicative interaction occurs gradually and includes important stages of communication, which are realized in stages. Communicative skills are characterized as skills aimed at producing one's own speech and perceiving other people's speech within specific communicative situations; they are specified in accordance with the stages of speech generation. The process of speech perception by a communicator is described, which takes place in two phases (actual perception and understanding) by moving from a surface analysis to a deep one. It is found that various barriers (logical, linguistic, stylistic, phonetic) arise in the process of communication, and their features are determined. On the basis of the conceptual provisions of psycholinguistics, the methodological emphasis is determined, which will contribute to the improvement of language teaching in order to form a high level of communicative competence of the individual. The results of experimental studies are presented.

Common and distinct neural representations of imagined and perceived speech.

Humans excel at constructing mental representations of speech streams in the absence of external auditory input: the internal experience of speech imagery. Elucidating the neural processes underlying speech imagery is critical to understanding this higher-order brain function in humans. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the shared and distinct neural correlates of imagined and perceived speech by asking participants to listen to poems articulated by a male voice (perception condition) and to imagine hearing poems spoken by that same voice (imagery condition). We found that compared to baseline, speech imagery and perception activated overlapping brain regions, including the bilateral superior temporal gyri and supplementary motor areas. The left inferior frontal gyrus was more strongly activated by speech imagery than by speech perception, suggesting functional specialization for generating speech imagery. Although more research with a larger sample size and a direct behavioral indicator is needed to clarify the neural systems underlying the construction of complex speech imagery, this study provides valuable insights into the neural mechanisms of the closely associated but functionally distinct processes of speech imagery and perception.

Altered engagement of the speech motor network is associated with reduced phonological working memory in autism

Nonword repetition, a common clinical measure of phonological working memory, involves component processes of speech perception, working memory, and speech production. Autistic children often show behavioral challenges in nonword repetition, as do many individuals with communication disorders. It is unknown which subprocesses of phonological working memory are vulnerable in autistic individuals, and whether the same brain processes underlie the transdiagnostic difficulty with nonword repetition. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the brain bases for nonword repetition challenges in autism. We compared activation during nonword repetition in functional brain networks subserving speech perception, working memory, and speech production between neurotypical and autistic children. Autistic children performed worse than neurotypical children on nonword repetition and had reduced activation in response to increasing phonological working memory load in the supplementary motor area. Multivoxel pattern analysis within the speech production network classified shorter vs longer nonword-repetition trials less accurately for autistic than neurotypical children. These speech production motor-specific differences were not observed in a group of children with reading disability who had similarly reduced nonword repetition behavior. These findings suggest that atypical function in speech production brain regions may contribute to nonword repetition difficulties in autism.