The ventriloquist paradigm: Studying speech processing in conversation with experimental control over phonetic input
Emily R. Felker, Aurora Troncoso‐Ruiz, Mirjam Ernestus, Mirjam Broersma · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2018
This article presents the ventriloquist paradigm, an innovative method for studying speech processing in dialogue whereby participants interact face-to-face with a confederate who, unbeknownst to them, communicates by playing pre-recorded speech. Results show that the paradigm convinces more participants that the speech is live than a setup without the face-to-face element, and it elicits more interactive conversation than a setup in which participants believe their partner is a computer. By reconciling the ecological validity of a conversational context with full experimental control over phonetic exposure, the paradigm offers a wealth of new possibilities for studying speech processing in interaction.