Abstract
An electrophysiological correlate of the discrimination of stop consonants drawn from within and across phonetic categories was investigated by an auditory evoked response (AER) technique. Ss were presented a string of stimuli from the phonetic category [ba] (the standard stimulus) and were asked to detect the occurrence of a stimulus from the same phonetic category (within-category shift), or the occurrence of a stimulus from a different phonetic category [pa] (across-category shift). Both the across- and within-category shift stimuli differed equally from the standard stimulus in the time of onset of the first formant and in the amount of aspiration in the second and third formants. The NIP2 response of the AER was larger to the across-category shift than to the within-category shift. The within-category shift did not differ from a no-shift control. These findings suggest (1) that the AER can reflect the relative discriminability of stop consonants drawn from the same or different phonetic categories in a manner similar to other behavioral measures; (2) that the detailed acoustic representation of stop consonants is transformed into a categorized phonetic representation within 200 msec after stimulus onset.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramson, A., & Lisker, L. Discriminability along the voicing continuum: Cross-language tests. Proceedings of tile 6th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague: Academia, 1970.
Cohen, R. Differential cerebral processing of noise and speech stimuli. Science, 1971, 172, 559–601.
Cooper, F., & Mattingly, I. Computer controlled PCM system for investigation of dichotic speech perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1969, 46, 115(A).
Crowder, R. The sound of consonants and vowels in immediate memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 1971, 10, 587–596.
Crowder, R. G., & Morton, J. Precategorical acoustic storage (PAS). Perception & Psychophysics, 1969, 5, 365–373.
Davis, H. Enhancement of evoked cortical potentials in humans related to a task requiring a decision. Science, 1964, 145, 182–183.
Donchin, E., & Smith, D. The contingent negative variation and the late positive wave of the average evoked potential. Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 1970, 29, 201–203.
Greenberg, H., & Graham, J. EEG changes during learning of speech and nonspeech stimuli. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 1970, 9, 274–281.
Karlin, L. Cognition, preparation and sensory-evoked potentials. Psychological Bulletin, 1970, 73, 122–136.
Liberman, A. M. The grammars of speech and language. Cognitive Psychology, 1970, 1, 301–332.
Liberman, A. M., Cooper, F. S., Shankweiler, D., & Studdert-Kennedy, M. Perception of the speech code. Psychological Review, 1967, 74, 431–461.
Lisker, L., & Abramson, A. The voicing dimension: Some experiments in comparative phonetics. Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague: Academia, 1970.
Mattingly, I., Liberman, A., Syrdal, A., & Halwes, T. Discrimination in speech and nonspeech modes. Cognitive Psychology, 1971, 2, 131–157.
Miller, G. A. The magical number seven, plus or minus two, or some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 1956, 63, 81–96.
Pisoni, D. On the nature of categorical perception of speech sounds. Supplement to the Haskins Laboratories’ Status Report on Speech Research, November 1971.
Pollack, I. The information of elementary auditory displays. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1952, 24, 745–749.
Ritter, W., & Vaughan, H. G. Averaged evoked responses in vigilance and discrimination: A reassessment. Science. 1969, 164, 326–328.
Sheatz, G. C., & Chapman, R. M. Task relevance and auditory evoked responses. Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 1969, 26, 468–475.
Studdert-Kennedy, M., Liberman. A., Harris, K.. & Cooper, F. The motor theory of speech perception: A reply to lane’s critical review. Psychological Review. 1970, 77, 234–249.
Wilkinson, R., & Lee, M. Auditory evoked potentials and selective attention. Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 1972, 33, 411–418.
Wood, C., Goff, W., & Day, R. Auditory evoked potentials during speech perception. Science, 1971, 173, 1248–1251.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper reports a portion of the research carried out for a PhD dissertation accepted by the University of Connecticut in 1971.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dorman, M.F. Auditory evoked potential correlates of speech sound discrimination. Perception & Psychophysics 15, 215–220 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213935
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213935