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Perception of Vowel Sounds Within a Biologically Realistic Model of Efficient Coding

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Vowel Inherent Spectral Change

Part of the book series: Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing ((MASP))

Abstract

Predicated upon principles of information theory, efficient coding has proven valuable for understanding visual perception. Here, we illustrate how efficient coding provides a powerful explanatory framework for understanding speech perception. This framework dissolves debates about objects of perception, instead focusing on the objective of perception: optimizing information transmission between the environment and perceivers. A simple measure of physiologically significant information is shown to predict intelligibility of variable-rate speech and discriminability of vowel sounds. Reliable covariance between acoustic attributes in complex sounds, both speech and nonspeech, is demonstrated to be amply available in natural sounds and efficiently coded by listeners. An efficient coding framework provides a productive approach to answer questions concerning perception of vowel sounds (including vowel inherent spectral change), perception of speech, and perception most broadly.

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Abbreviations

C:

Consonant

CV:

Consonant–vowel

CVC:

Consonant–vowel-consonant

CSE:

Cochlea-scaled spectral entropy

ERB:

Equivalent rectangular bandwidth

f0:

Fundamental frequency

F1:

First formant

F2:

Second formant

F3:

Third formant

JND:

Just noticeable difference

PCA:

Principal component analysis

r:

Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient

TIMIT:

Texas Instruments/Massachusetts Institute of Technology

V:

Vowel

VC:

Vowel-consonant

VISC:

Vowel inherent spectral change

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Ray Kent, Peter Assmann, and Catherine Rogers for helpful insights from previous drafts of this chapter. Funding has been provided by NIDCD (first and second authors) and SSHRC (third author).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Keith R. Kluender

  2. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Christian E. Stilp

  3. School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Michael Kiefte

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  1. Keith R. Kluender
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  2. Christian E. Stilp
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  3. Michael Kiefte
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Correspondence to Keith R. Kluender .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical Engineering, and Telecommunications, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, New South Wales, Australia

    Geoffrey Stewart Morrison

  2. School of Behavioral and, Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Richardson, TX, 75083, Texas, USA

    Peter F. Assmann

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Kluender, K.R., Stilp, C.E., Kiefte, M. (2013). Perception of Vowel Sounds Within a Biologically Realistic Model of Efficient Coding. In: Morrison, G., Assmann, P. (eds) Vowel Inherent Spectral Change. Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14209-3_6

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