The internal representation of vowel spectra investigated using behavioral response-triggered averaging.
Listeners presented with noise were asked to press a key whenever they heard the vowels [a] or [i:]. The noise had a random spectrum, with levels in 60 frequency bins changing every 0.5 s. Reverse correlation was used to average the spectrum of the noise prior to each key press, thus estimating the features of the vowels for which the participants were listening. The formant frequencies of these reverse-correlated vowels were similar to those of their respective whispered vowels. The success of this response-triggered technique suggests that it may prove useful for estimating other internal representations, including perceptual phenomena like tinnitus.
MRC Institute of Hearing Research (Scottish Section), Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 16 Alexandra Parade, Glasgow G31 2ER, United Kingdom. owen@ihr.gla.ac.uk
W Owen
WO
Brimijoin
Michael A
MA
Akeroyd
Emily
E
Tilbury
Bernd
B
Porr
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult