Discriminability and Perceptual Weighting of Some Acoustic Cues to Speech Perception by 3-Year-Olds

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nittrouer
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Developmental Shift ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Perceptual Weighting

Studies of children’s speech perception have shown that young children process speech signals differently than adults. Specifically, the relative contributions made by various acoustic parameters to some linguistic decisions seem to differ for children and adults. Such findings have led to the hypothesis that there is a developmental shift in the perceptual weighting of acoustic parameters that results from experience with a native language (i.e., the Developmental Weighting Shift). This developmental shift eventually leads the child to adopt the optimal perceptual weighting strategy for the native language being learned (i.e., one that allows the listener to make accurate decisions about the phonemic structure of his or her native language). Although this proposal has intuitive appeal, there is at least one serious challenge that can be leveled against it: Perhaps age-related differences inspeech perception can more appropriately be explained by age-related differences in basic auditory-processing abilities. That is, perhaps children are not as sensitive as adults to subtle differences in acoustic structure and so make linguistic decisions based on the acoustic information that is most perceptually salient. The present study tested this hypothesis for the acoustic cues relevant to fricative identity in fricative-vowel syllables. Results indicated that 3-year-olds were not as sensitive to changes in these acoustic cues as adults are, but that these age-related differences in auditory sensitivity could not entirely account for age-related differences in perceptual weighting strategies.

scholarly journals Speech perception at birth: The brain encodes fast and slow temporal information

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (30) ◽  
pp. eaba7830
Author(s):  
Laurianne Cabrera ◽  
Judit Gervain
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
The Brain

Speech perception is constrained by auditory processing. Although at birth infants have an immature auditory system and limited language experience, they show remarkable speech perception skills. To assess neonates’ ability to process the complex acoustic cues of speech, we combined near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain responses to syllables differing in consonants. The syllables were presented in three conditions preserving (i) original temporal modulations of speech [both amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM)], (ii) both fast and slow AM, but not FM, or (iii) only the slowest AM (<8 Hz). EEG responses indicate that neonates can encode consonants in all conditions, even without the fast temporal modulations, similarly to adults. Yet, the fast and slow AM activate different neural areas, as shown by NIRS. Thus, the immature human brain is already able to decompose the acoustic components of speech, laying the foundations of language learning.

Auditory Processing in Children's Speech Perception

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan E. Sussman
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Selective Adaptation ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Acoustic Processing ◽  
Processing Differences ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
The Continuum ◽  
Adaptation Effects

Five- to six-year-old children and adults participated in discrimination and selective adaptation speech perception tasks using a synthetic consonant-vowel continuum ranging from [bal to Ida]. In one condition of selective adaptation, attention was focused on the adapting stimulus, the continuum-endpoint ba], with a whispering task. In another condition, attention was focused away from the continuum-endpoint [da] adaptor to contralaterally presented syllables " she " and " see ." Results, compared with two more typical adaptation conditions, indicated that focused attention did not augment selective adaptation effects, particularly for children who showed smaller effects with focused attention on the adaptor. In contrast to adults, children did not significantly change labeling responses after exposure to endpoint-[ba] adaptors, results matching those of Sussman and Carney (1989). However, children did significantly change labeling following exposure to endpoint-[da] adaptors. Discrimination findings with five-formant consonant-vowel and single-formant stimuli supported the importance of acoustic processing for the selective adaptation tasks performed. Together, results support hypotheses of sensory processing differences in younger, normally developing children compared with adults and show that such abilities appear to be related to speech perception skills.

Relationship Between Peripheral and Central Auditory Abilities and Iron Deficiency Anemia in Adolescent Girls

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Chandni Jain ◽  
Vipin Ghosh Pushpoth Gangadharan ◽  
Chetak Kadabasal Basavaraja ◽  
Aishwarya Lakshmi
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Iron Deficiency ◽  
Iron Deficiency Anemia ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Deficiency Anemia ◽  
Central Auditory Processing ◽  
Speech Perception In Noise ◽  
Processing Abilities

Purpose This study evaluated the peripheral hearing and central auditory processing abilities in Indian adolescent girls with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Method The participants consisted of 75 adolescent girls with IDA, 50 adolescent girls without IDA, and 50 adolescent boys without IDA. Participants underwent a test battery to evaluate auditory processing and peripheral hearing assessment. In this study, central auditory processing abilities were assessed using Speech Perception in Noise test in Kannada (SPIN-K) and quick speech perception in noise tests in Kannada, dichotic consonant–vowel test, gap detection threshold (GDT), and auditory digit sequencing and auditory digit span tests. Results Results showed that the hearing thresholds at extremely low and high frequencies (250 and 8000 Hz), although within clinically normal limits, were poorer in girls with IDA than in the control groups. Also, girls with IDA performed poorly in SPIN-K of the right ear, GDT, and auditory backward digit span tests. Conclusion These subtle auditory deficiencies may be attributed to the compromised blood supply to the central auditory nervous system, as observed in the current study.

scholarly journals Speech Perception in Noise Predicts Oral Narrative Comprehension in Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beula M. Magimairaj ◽  
Naveen K. Nagaraj ◽  
Craig A. Champlin ◽  
Linda K. Thibodeau ◽  
Diane F. Loeb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Narrative Comprehension ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Speech Perception In Noise ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Narrative Language

We examined the relative contribution of auditory processing abilities (tone perception and speech perception in noise) after controlling for short-term memory capacity and vocabulary, to narrative language comprehension in children with developmental language disorder. Two hundred and sixteen children with developmental language disorder, ages 6 to 9 years (Mean = 7; 6), were administered multiple measures. The dependent variable was children's score on the narrative comprehension scale of the Test of Narrative Language. Predictors were auditory processing abilities, phonological short-term memory capacity, and language (vocabulary) factors, with age, speech perception in quiet, and non-verbal IQ as covariates. Results showed that narrative comprehension was positively correlated with the majority of the predictors. Regression analysis suggested that speech perception in noise contributed uniquely to narrative comprehension in children with developmental language disorder, over and above all other predictors; however, tone perception tasks failed to explain unique variance. The relative importance of speech perception in noise over tone-perception measures for language comprehension reinforces the need for the assessment and management of listening in noise deficits and makes a compelling case for the functional implications of complex listening situations for children with developmental language disorder.

Common variance in amplitude envelope perception tasks and their impact on phoneme duration perception and reading and spelling in Finnish children with reading disabilities

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. HÄMÄLÄINEN ◽  
P. H. T. LEPPÄNEN ◽  
K. EKLUND ◽  
J. THOMSON ◽  
U. RICHARDSON ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Rise Time ◽  
Duration Discrimination ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Time Discrimination ◽  
Time Correlations ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Reading And Spelling

ABSTRACTOur goal was to investigate auditory and speech perception abilities of children with and without reading disability (RD) and associations between auditory, speech perception, reading, and spelling skills. Participants were 9-year-old, Finnish-speaking children with RD (N = 30) and typically reading children (N = 30). Results showed significant group differences between the groups in phoneme duration discrimination but not in perception of amplitude modulation and rise time. Correlations among rise time discrimination, phoneme duration, and spelling accuracy were found for children with RD. Those children with poor rise time discrimination were also poor in phoneme duration discrimination and in spelling. Results suggest that auditory processing abilities could, at least in some children, affect speech perception skills, which in turn would lead to phonological processing deficits and dyslexia.

The Relation Between Speech Perception and Phonemic Awareness

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1059-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nittrouer
Keyword(s):  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Developmental Change ◽  
Chronic Otitis Media ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Perceptual Weighting

The Developmental Weighting Shift (DWS) suggests that children adjust the weights they assign to the acoustic parameters of the speech signal as they gain experience with a native language, and that this developmental shift in perceptual weighting strategies is related to another developmental change: increased sensitivity to the phonetic structure of the speech signal. To test these claims, children presumed to differ in the amount of linguistic experience they had received during their preschool years participated in two kinds of tasks: a labeling task designed to estimate differences among groups in the weights assigned to various acoustic parameters, and tasks of phonemic awareness. The experimental groups were children from low-socioeconomic (low-SES) backgrounds, children with histories of chronic otitis media (OM), and children who experienced both conditions. A control group of children who experienced neither of these conditions also participated. The hypotheses were that, because of their diminished linguistic experience, children in the three experimental groups would display both more immature weighting strategies and poorer phonemic awareness than children in the control group, and that developmental advance in perceptual weighting strategies and phonemic awareness would be correlated. Results indicated that children with histories of chronic OM performed more poorly on both kinds of tasks than did children in the control group, and low-SES children performed more poorly still. Children experiencing both low-SES and chronic OM performed no differently than the low-SES children. These results provide support for the claim that the development of mature perceptual weighting strategies for speech and of phonemic awareness are related. Support is also provided for the claim that both depend on receiving sufficient and appropriate experience with a native language during the preschool years.

scholarly journals Speech perception at birth: the brain encodes fast and slow temporal information

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurianne Cabrera ◽  
Judit Gervain
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Frequency Modulations ◽  
The Brain

Speech perception is constrained by auditory processing. Although at birth, infants have an immature auditory system and limited language experience, they show remarkable speech perception skills. To assess neonates’ ability to process the complex acoustic cues of speech, we combined near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain responses to syllables differing in consonants. The syllables were presented in three conditions preserving (i) original temporal modulations of speech (both amplitude and frequency modulations, AM/FM), (ii) both fast and slow AM, but not FM, or (iii) only the slowest AM (&lt; 8 Hz). EEG responses indicate that neonates are able to encode consonants in all conditions, even without the fast temporal modulations, similarly to adults. Yet, the fast and slow AM activate different neural areas, as shown by NIRS. Thus, the immature human brain is already able to decompose the acoustic components of speech, laying the foundations of language learning.

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