Perceptual normalization for speaking rate II: Effects of signal discontinuities

In a series of experiments, we examined how rate normalization in speech pe rception is influenced by segments that occur after the target. Perception of the syllable-initial target was influenced by the durations of both the adjacent vowel and the segment after the vowel, even when the identity of t he talker was changed during the syllable. These results, together with ear lier findings of a temporal window that follows a target phoneme within whi ch segment duration influences perception of the target, help to resolve ap parently conflicting results that have been reported previously. Overall, t he results fit within a theoretical framework in which the rate at which ev ents take place is extracted early in processing, prior to segregating voic es, and the use of this information is obligatory in subsequent processing.