Speech perception

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Speech perception is a branch of linguistics , neurolinguistics , phonetics and perceptual psychology and researches the recognition of language in acoustic events .

Speech perception begins - like the perception of non-verbal acoustic stimuli - with the reception of the speech sound in the outer ear , the transmission of the sound into the inner ear and the conversion of the speech sound in the inner ear into a neural signal . The signal is then passed on via the auditory pathway to the primary auditory cortex and also to higher cortical areas of the brain . In the brain, the speech signal is then initially processed phonetically - phonologically : identification of speech sounds , syllables , words . Then the signal is further processed in higher linguistic centers: identification of meanings, the structure of sentences with the aim of understanding the entire utterance.

The unresolved questions in research include:

  • How do we manage to differentiate between individual words in the sound or data stream?
  • How do we manage to recognize words as the same even though they are pronounced completely differently by different speakers (pitch, dialect, speed of speech, etc.)?

Theories of speech perception

Engine theory

The motor theory is one of the oldest theories of speech perception and was largely developed by Alvin Meyer Liberman during his work at the Haskins Laboratories . The basic assumption of the motor theory is that speech perception does not have to be understood in terms of the acoustic signal, but in terms of the articulatory activities that produce the acoustic signal. According to the motor theory, the listener has a phonetic module that has the task of matching the perceived articulatory information with neural-articulatory patterns generated by the listener. The articulatory gesture is therefore considered to be "perceived" if it corresponds to a corresponding neural counterpart in the listener.

An argument against a motor theory, which essentially emerged in the context of explanatory approaches to categorical perception , is that it could be shown that non-verbal acoustic signals can also be categorically perceived. Another objection arises from observations made by people who are organically incapable of language production, but who have nevertheless learned to understand spoken language. With a far-reaching identification of the mechanisms of speech production and speech perception, this cannot be explained.

See also

literature

  • E. Bruce Goldstein: Sensation and Perception . Wadsworth, Pacific Grove (USA) 2002.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On the genesis of Alvin M. Liberman's theories of language perception cf. Alvin Meyer Liberman: Introduction: Some Assumptions about Speech and How They Changed. In: Alvin Meyer Libermann: Speech: A Special Code (Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change). MIT Press, Cambridge et al. a. 1996, pp. 1-43. For the argumentation for the motor theory and the discussion of competing assumptions see ibid. P. 26 ff.
  2. ^ Brian CJ Moore: An Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing. 4th edition. Academic Press, San Diego et al. a. 2001, p. 218.
  3. ^ Brian CJ Moore: An Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing. 4th edition. Academic Press, San Diego et al. a. 2001, p. 218.
  4. ^ Brian CJ Moore: An Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing. 4th edition. Academic Press, San Diego et al. a. 2001, p. 221.