0.1. Introduction
Problem of the Listener: Extract meaning from the acoustic signal
- involves the recognition of words
- identifying the perceptual cues that listeners use
0.2. Cues
- aspirated and unaspirated stops in Mandarin differ in VOT
- Are listeners senstive to these differences?
- Most test: manipulate the acoustic property synthetically and see if perceptual response is affected
Properties of cues:
- cues combine to distinguish sounds
- individual cues can vary in strength
1. Categorical
Listeners only have access to category labels, so stimuli can only be distinguished if they are identified as belonging to different categories
Why significant?
- the categorical perception pattern contrasts with the pattern observedd in psychophysical experiments using non-speech stimuli
- This contrast was used to aruge that speech perception is “special”