title: Consonant recognition for spectrally degraded speech as a function of consonant-vowel intensity ratio.
abstract: Normal-hearing subjects' recognition of spectrally degraded speech was evaluated under conditions in which the consonant-vowel (C-V) intensity ratio was modified. Subjects identified 22 consonants presented in an /a-Consonant-a/ format at suprathreshold and near threshold conditions. Prior to C-V ratio modification, the stimuli were processed to limit spectral information. In the suprathreshold experiment, stimuli were presented at the natural C-V ratio and at six modified C-V ratios. C-V ratio manipulations had dramatic effects on recognition scores for some groups of consonants. Scores for glides and sibilant fricatives increased with increasing C-V ratio, while scores for nasals and weak fricatives were best at low C-V ratios. Recognition scores for the stops and affricates were generally independent of C-V ratio. For nearly all consonants, changes in recognition scores as a function of C-V ratio were associated with changes in a general response bias toward those sounds. Performance was poor when the spectrally smeared VCVs were presented at low SN ratios in a second experiment. The influence of C-V ratio on percent correct scores was generally similar to the suprathreshold results, but consonant audibility, which was not a factor in the suprathreshold experiment, appeared to alter the effect of C-V ratio modification for some consonants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, USA.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Freyman
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Nerbonne
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Shea
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010700:Phonetics; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013067:Speech Perception