Speech perception involves understanding how language is heard and interpreted, including acoustics, phonemes, syntax, and visual cues. Two processes, top-down and bottom-up, explain how humans process incoming acoustic signals. The ear transfers speech-related sounds to the brain for interpretation. Phonemes contribute to speech perception, and visual cues can affect the sounds perceived, known as the McGurk effect. Syntax and semantics aid speech perception understanding.
Understanding how language is heard, interpreted, and understood is the goal of those who study speech perception. The various elements of speech perception, such as acoustics, phonemes, syntax, and other properties, can help provide a roadmap of how speech is processed and understood. In addition to the auditory processes used in speech perception, visual cues also need to be explored.
Two processes seek to explain how humans process incoming acoustic signals when it comes to processing and understanding language. When humans use language skills and memorized cues to fill in missing phonetic information, it is considered top-down processing. The absence of stored information forces humans to use bottom-up computing. Bottom-up processing can be demonstrated by studying children and how they hear and react to the acoustics of speech.
The internal organs of the ear work to transfer speech-related sounds to the temporal lobe of the brain for understanding. The vibrations associated with speech acoustics are transmitted via the eardrum to the auditory ossicles which continue the vibration to the inner ear, cochlea and hair cells. At this point, the auditory nerve begins picking up signals from neurons and relaying information to areas of the brain responsible for the initial interpretation of speech properties, including pitch and pitch.
Speech-related sounds are considered speech acoustics. These sounds are produced by the vibrations of the human vocal tract. Each letter and sound made by the vocal tract prompts the vocal tract to change shape.
Phonemes help distinguish between similar sounds in the language. Even smaller than the syllables that make up speech and words, phonemes contribute to the perception of speech. Phonemes and other speech sounds used to build language overlap and are difficult to distinguish. The sound of each segment of speech is affected by the sounds that come before and after, leading to this difficulty.
Visual cues, including mouth formations and facial expressions, help identify speech cues and sounds. In some studies, changing the face and visual cues affects the visual cues provided and the sounds perceived. This is known in the field of speech perception as the McGurk effect.
Several additional terms are used in the discussion of language as it pertains to speech perception. Syntax is understood as the combination of words, also known as grammar. Semantics refers to the meaning of the message itself. An understanding of syntax and semantics further aids speech perception understanding and research.
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