Listeners Experience Linguistic Masking Release in Noise-Vocoded Speech-in-Speech Recognition

Autor/inn/en	Viswanathan, Navin; Kokkinakis, Kostas; Williams, Brittany T.
Titel	Listeners Experience Linguistic Masking Release in Noise-Vocoded Speech-in-Speech Recognition
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61 (2018) 2, S.428-435 (8 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
DOI	10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-17-0215
Schlagwörter	Listening; Auditory Perception; Auditory Stimuli; Interference (Learning); Speech Communication; Acoustics; English; Indo European Languages; Comparative Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hörvorgang; Zuhören; Auditive Wahrnehmung; Akustische Wahrnehmung; Akustik; Auditive Stimulation; English language; Englisch; Indoeuropäisch
Abstract	Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether listeners with normal hearing perceiving noise-vocoded speech-in-speech demonstrate better intelligibility of target speech when the background speech was mismatched in language (linguistic release from masking [LRM]) and/or location (spatial release from masking [SRM]) relative to the target. We also assessed whether the spectral resolution of the noise-vocoded stimuli affected the presence of LRM and SRM under these conditions. Method: In Experiment 1, a mixed factorial design was used to simultaneously manipulate the masker language (within-subject, English vs. Dutch), the simulated masker location (within-subject, right, center, left), and the spectral resolution (between-subjects, 6 vs. 12 channels) of noise-vocoded target-masker combinations presented at +25 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In Experiment 2, the study was repeated using a spectral resolution of 12 channels at +15 dB SNR. Results: In both experiments, listeners' intelligibility of noise-vocoded targets was better when the background masker was Dutch, demonstrating reliable LRM in all conditions. The pattern of results in Experiment 1 was not reliably different across the 6- and 12-channel noise-vocoded speech. Finally, a reliable spatial benefit (SRM) was detected only in the more challenging SNR condition (Experiment 2). Conclusion: The current study is the first to report a clear LRM benefit in noise-vocoded speech-in-speech recognition. Our results indicate that this benefit is available even under spectrally degraded conditions and that it may augment the benefit due to spatial separation of target speech and competing backgrounds. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01