GENERAL CONTRAST EFFECTS IN SPEECH-PERCEPTION - EFFECT OF PRECEDING LIQUID ON STOP CONSONANT IDENTIFICATION

When members of a series of synthesized stop consonants varying acoust ically in F3 characteristics and varying perceptually from /da/ to /ga / are preceded by /al/, subjects report hearing more /ga/ syllables re lative to when each member is preceded by /ar/ (Mann, 1980). It has be en suggested that this result demonstrates the existence of a mechanis m that compensates for coarticulation via tacit knowledge of articulat ory dynamics and constraints, or through perceptual recovery of vocal- tract dynamics. The present study was designed to assess the degree to which these perceptual effects are specific to qualities of human art iculatory sources. In three experiments, series of consonant-vowel (CV ) stimuli varying in F3-onset frequency (/da/-/ga/) were preceded by s peech versions or nonspeech analogues of /al/ and /ar/. The effect of Liquid identity on stop consonant labeling remained when the preceding VC was produced by a female speaker and the CV syllable was modeled a fter a male speaker's productions. Labeling boundaries also shifted wh en the CV was preceded by a sine wave glide modeled after F3 character istics of /al/ and /ar/. Identifications shifted even when the precedi ng sine wave was of constant frequency equal to the offset frequency o f F3 from a natural production. These results suggest an explanation i n terms of general auditory processes as opposed to recovery of or kno wledge of specific articulatory dynamics.