Abstract
Two experiments were used to test whether selective adaptation for speech occurs automatically or instead requires attentional resources. A control condition demonstrated the usual large identification shifts caused by repeatedly presenting an adapting sound (/wa/, with listeners identifying members of a /ba/-/wa/ test series). Two types of distractor tasks were used: (1) Subjects did a rapid series of arithmetic problems during the adaptation periods (Experiments 1 and 2), or (2) they made a series of rhyming judgments, requiring phonetic coding (Experiment 2). A control experiment (Experiment 3) demonstrated that these tasks normally impose a heavy attentional cost on phonetic processing. Despite this, for both experimental conditions, the observed adaptation effect was just as large as in the control condition. This result indicates that adaptation is automatic, operating at an early, preattentive level. The implications of these results for current models of speech perception are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Connine, C. M., &Clifton, C. (1987). Interactive use of lexical information in speech perception.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,13, 291–299.
Cutler, A., Mehler, J., Norris, D., &Sequi, J. (1987). Phoneme identification and the lexicon.Cognitive Psychology,19, 141–177.
Cutting, J. E. (1976). Auditory and linguistic processes in speech perception: Inferences from six fusions in dichotic listening.Psychological Review,83, 114–140.
Eimas, P. D., &Corbit, J. D. (1973). Selective adaptation of linguistic feature detectors.Cognitive Psychology,4, 99–109.
Eimas, P. D., Hornstein, S.M..&Payton, P. (1990). Attention and the role of dual codes in phoneme monitoring.Journal of Memory & Language,29, 160–180.
Elman, J. L., &Mcclelland, J. L. (1988). Cognitive penetration of the mechanisms of perception: Compensation for coarticulation of lexically restored phonemes.Journal of Memory & Language,27, 143–165.
Fuiisaki, H., &Kawashima, T. (1970). Some experiments on speech perception and a model for the perceptual mechanism.Annual Report of the Engineering Research Institute,29, 207–214.
Kat, D., &Samuel, A. G. (1984). More adaptation of speech by nonspeech.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,10, 512–525.
Klatt, D. H. (1980). Software for a cascade-parallel formant synthesizer.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,67, 971–995.
Marslen-Wilson, W. D., &Welsh, A. (1978). Processing interactions and lexical access during word recognition in continuous speech.Cognitive Psychology,10, 29–63.
Massaro, D. W. (1989). Testing between the TRACE model and the fuzzy logical model of speech perception.Cognitive Psychology,21, 398–421.
Mcclelland, J. L. (1991). Stochastic interactive processes and the effect of context on perception.Cognitive Psychology,23, 1–44.
Mcclelland, J. L., &Elman, J. L. (1986). The TRACE model of speech perception.Cognitive Psychology,18, 1–86.
McQueen, J. M. (1991). The influence of the lexicon on phonetic categorization: Stimulus quality in word-final ambiguity.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,17, 433–443.
Mullennix, J. W. (1986).Attentional limitations in the perception of speech. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York, Buffalo.
Norris, D. G. (1993). Bottom-up connectionist models of “interaction.” In G. Altmann & R. Shillcock (Eds.),Cognitive models of speech processing: The second Sperlonga meeting (pp. 211-234). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Samuel, A. G. (1981). Phonemic restoration: Insights from a new methodology.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,110, 474–494.
Samuel, A. G. (1986). Red herring detectors and speech perception: In defense of selective adaptation.Cognitive Psychology,18, 452–499.
Samuel, A. G. (1988). Central and peripheral representation of whispered and voiced speech.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,14, 379–388.
Samuel, A. G. (1996). Does lexical information influence the perceptual restoration of phonemes?Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,125, 28–51.
Samuel, A. G. (1997). Lexical activation produces potent phonemic percepts.Cognitive Psychology,32, 97–127.
Samuel, A. G., &Kat, D. (1996). Early levels of analysis of speech.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,22, 676–694.
Samuel, A. G., &Newport, E. L. (1979). Adaptation of speech and non-speech: Evidence for complex acoustic cue detectors.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,5, 563–578.
Sawusch, J. (1977). Peripheral and central processes in selective adaptation of place of articulation in stop consonants.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,62, 738–750.
Sawusch, J. (1986). Auditory and phonetic coding of speech. In E. Schwab & H. Nusbaum (Eds.),Pattern recognition by humans and machines (pp. 51–88). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Sussman, J. E. (1993). Focused attention during selective adaptation along a place of articulation continuum.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,93, 488–498.
Treisman, A. M., &Gelade, G. (1980). A feature-integration theory of attention.Cognitive Psychology,12, 97–136.
Warren, R. M. (1970). Perceptual restoration of missing speech sounds.Science,167, 392–393.
Wolfe, J. M., Cave, K. R., &Franzel, S. L. (1989). Guided search: An alternative to the feature integration model for visual search.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 419–433.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01MH51663-03, and by Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant 91-0378.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Samuel, A.G., Kat, D. Adaptation is automatic. Perception & Psychophysics 60, 503–510 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206870
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206870