Age differences in identifying words in synthetic speech.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated whether context or different speech rates could improve older adult performance on identification of synthetically generated words.


BACKGROUND
Synthetic speech systems can potentially improve the daily functioning of older adults. However, research must determine whether older adults can effectively implement current text-to-speech technologies, which few studies have examined. Older adults' sensory and cognitive declines may cause difficulties in identifying words in synthetic speech.


METHODS
Ninety-six participants (young, middle-aged, and older adults) identified auditory monosyllabic words (half natural, half synthetic) presented in isolation or at the ends of sentences. Participants heard speech at either normal or slower rates.


RESULTS
We found an interaction of age, context, and voice type and that slower speech rates worsened performance for all groups. Contrasts revealed that context reduced age differences, though only for natural speech. Hearing acuity was highly correlated with age and fully accounts for the interaction.


CONCLUSIONS
Context improves performance for everyone in natural speech. However, whereas context improves performance for synthetic speech, it does not differentially reduce the age impairment for older adults. Slower speed generally impairs everyone's performance compared with the normal rate.


CONCLUSIONS
Systems using synthetic speech should avoid presenting words in isolation, and rich contextual support should be consistently adopted. Synthetic speech fidelity must be improved significantly before becoming truly useful for older adult populations.
Roring
Roy W
RW
Psychology Department, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1270, USA. roring@psy.fsu.edu
Hines
Franklin G
FG
Charness
Neil
N
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012660:Semantics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013071:Speech, Alaryngeal