Application of auditory models to discrimination thresholds of voicing parameters
Shari L. Campbell, Kathryn Hoberg Arehart, Ronald Callaway Scherer, Amy N. Butler · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1998
A recent study [Scherer et al., J. Voice (to be published)] reported discrimination thresholds for synthesized complex tones emulating glottal flow waveforms and output pressure waveforms for the vowel /a/. Each signal type was varied along both an open quotient and a speed quotient continuum using standard values associated with normal voice production. jnds for the output pressure signals were significantly larger than for the glottal flow signals. The current experiment compared quantities derived from ‘‘auditory-perceptual’’ representations of the acoustic signals. These quantities (centers of gravity and Euclidean distances) were computed for both the raw amplitude spectra and for modeled excitation patterns and specific loudness patterns. Overall loudness and overall sharpness were also estimated. The comparisons indicated ways in which auditory modeling can enhance our understanding of basic issues in voice and speech perception. [Work supported by UGA College of Education.]