Talker variability and word recognition: A developmental perspective
Brigette R. Oliver · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1990
The effects of talker variability on spoken word recognition were studied developmentally in 3-, 4-, and 5-yr-old children. Subjects listened to lists of words and were required to identify each word by pointing to a picture in a six alternative visual display. The words and pictures were taken from the word intelligibility by picture identification test (WIPI). Three talker conditions were examined: single talker, single talker with varying amplitude, and multiple talker. Each child heard three lists, one from each talker condition, in varying order. Results showed a main effect of age and an interaction between talker condition and list order. As expected, we found an increase in overall accuracy with age. However, the 3-yr-olds did better in the single-talker condition than the other conditions (which did not differ). This was found only when the lists were presented first during a test session. Second and third lists showed no difference due to talker condition. In most of the conditions the 4- and 5-yr-olds displayed ceiling levels of performance that may have obscured other differences. Further studies are underway with younger children to examine the nature of the differences in perception between single-talker and multi-talker lists. [Work supported by NIH Grant DC-0111-14 to Indiana Univ.]