Auditory temporal processes, speech perception and aging

描述(由申请人提供)：该项目提出了一个学习计划 在言语知觉和听觉心理物理学中检验这一假设 老年人言语理解的许多主要困难 听者与听觉时间加工中的潜在问题有关。 在观察到对老年人来说困难的多种形式的退化语言中 听众，那些涉及语速改变的人似乎会产生 与年龄相关的最大认知缺陷。话音速率的改变可以是 被视为语音分段提示在时间方面的退化形式 和语音韵律，而这些类型的扭曲是 在下一个项目期进行调查。此外，心理声学结果 证明在时间加工中存在大量与年龄有关的困难 对于听觉节拍的知觉和序列的节奏特征 刺激模式。监听程序处理困难可以归因于 外周和/或中央处理机制，以及各种认知 因素，包括对韵律特征的熟悉程度 不同的母语。该项目考察了 外周听力障碍、刺激类型、时间复杂性和 时间段和韵律加工的认知需求 语音和非语音刺激模式中的线索。该项目包括 四个阶段的调查，每个阶段包括一系列的演讲和 非语音辨别和识别任务。 阶段1和阶段2调查了与年龄相关的时间差异的来源 言语与非言语的区分和识别的敏感性 以孤立的目标刺激或按顺序嵌入的片段 刺激模式。第三阶段测量了听者年龄对 不同特征韵律的时间线索识别 语言。阶段4将考察时间加工的心理声学模型 并确定导致年龄相关差异的刺激参数 理解带口音的英语。该项目的参与者将包括团体 年龄和听力敏感度不同的受试者。

DESCRIPTION (PROVIDED BY APPLICANT): The project proposes a program of studies in speech perception and auditory psychophysics to examine the hypothesis that many of the predominant difficulties in speech understanding for elderly listeners are related to underlying problems in auditory temporal processing. Of the many forms of degraded speech observed to be difficult for elderly listeners, those that involve an alteration of speech rate appear to produce the largest age-related recognition deficits. Alterations of speech rate may be viewed as a form of degradation in temporal aspects of speech segmental cues and speech prosody, and these types of distortions are the focus of investigation in the next project period. Moreover, psychoacoustic results demonstrate that large age-related difficulties in temporal processing exist for the perception of auditory tempo and rhythmic characteristics of sequential stimulus patterns. Listener processing difficulty could be attributed to peripheral and/or central processing mechanisms, as well as various cognitive factors, including the degree of familiarity with prosodic features of different native languages. The project examines the relative contribution of peripheral hearing impairment, type of stimulus temporal complexity and cognitive demand on the processing of temporal segmental and prosodic cues in speech and non-speech stimulus patterns. The project comprises four stages of investigation, each consisting of a series of speech and non-speech discrimination and recognition tasks. Stages 1 and 2 investigate the sources of age-related differences in temporal sensitivity for discrimination and identification of speech and non-speech segments presented as isolated target stimuli or as embedded in sequential stimulus patterns. Stage 3 measures the influences of listener age on discrimination of temporal cues for prosody that characterize different languages. Stage 4 will examine psychoacoustic models of temporal processing and identify stimulus parameters contributing to age-related differences in understanding accented English. Participants in the project will include groups of subjects that differ by age and hearing sensitivity.