Influence of sound immersion and communicative interaction on the Lombard effect.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the influence of sound immersion techniques and speech production tasks on speech adaptation in noise.


METHODS
In Experiment 1, we compared the modification of speakers' perception and speech production in noise when noise is played into headphones (with and without additional self-monitoring feedback) or over loudspeakers. We also examined how this sound immersion effect depends on noise type (broadband or cocktail party) and level (from 62 to 86dB SPL). In Experiment 2, we compared the modification of acoustic and lip articulatory parameters in noise when speakers interact or not with a speech partner.


RESULTS
Speech modifications in noise were greater when cocktail party noise was played in headphones than over loudspeakers. Such an effect was less noticeable in broadband noise. Adding a self-monitoring feedback into headphones reduced this effect but did not completely compensate for it. Speech modifications in noise were greater in interactive situation and concerned parameters that may not be related to voice intensity.


CONCLUSIONS
The results support the idea that the Lombard effect is both a communicative adaptation and an automatic regulation of vocal intensity. The influence of auditory and communicative factors has some methodological implications on the choice of appropriate paradigms to study the Lombard effect.
Garnier
Maëva
M
Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, LAM, (UMR 7190: UPMC Univ Paris 06, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ministère de la Culture), Paris, France.
Henrich
Nathalie
N
Dubois
Danièle
D
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004581:Electronics; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008046:Lip / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009622:Noise; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D055815:Young Adult