title: The Effect of Experience on Response Time When Judging Synthesized Voice Quality.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of level and type of experience on response time and the number of replays needed when judging voice quality.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a within-subjects group design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Speech-language pathologists, singing voice teachers, speech-language pathology graduate students with and without experience with a voice client, graduate students who have completed a voice pedagogy course, and inexperienced listeners (n = 60) rated stimuli with systematically altered measurements of jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonics ratio (NHR) on a visual analog scale ranging from mild to severe for overall severity, roughness, breathiness, strain, and pitch. Response time (in seconds) and number of replays were recorded during the experiment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that experienced listeners took the most time when rating the stimuli. Stimuli with two altered acoustical components also yielded longer response times compared with the stimuli with one altered acoustical component. Finally, level and type of experience had some effect on the number of replays for each stimulus during the rating task.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, experience does affect response time when judging voice quality and the number of replays during voice quality rating tasks. Continued research is needed regarding the reasons for extended time and replays as per experience so as to enhance future training protocols.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language Pathology, Misericordia University, Dallas, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: jkisenwe@misericordia.edu.
authors.forename: Jessica Sofranko
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kisenwether
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Prosek
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D011930:Reaction Time; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D063346:Singing; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Experienced listener; Response time; Synthesized stimuli; Voice perception