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. 2011 Aug;54(4):1051-9.
doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2010/10-0162). Epub 2010 Dec 20.

Prosodic adaptations to pitch perturbation in running speech

Rupal Patel  1 , Caroline Niziolek, Kevin Reilly, Frank H Guenther
Affiliations

Prosodic adaptations to pitch perturbation in running speech

Rupal Patel et al. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2011 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: A feedback perturbation paradigm was used to investigate whether prosodic cues are controlled independently or in an integrated fashion during sentence production.

Method: Twenty-one healthy speakers of American English were asked to produce sentences with emphatic stress while receiving real-time auditory feedback of their productions. The fundamental frequency (F0) of the stressed word in each 4-word sentence was selectively shifted in a sensorimotor adaptation protocol. Speakers experienced either an upward or a downward shift of the stressed word, which gradually altered the perceived stress of the sentence.

Results: Participants in the Up and Down groups adapted to F0 shifts by altering the contrast between stressed and unstressed words differentially, such that the two groups deviated from each other in the perturbation phase. Furthermore, selective F0 perturbation in sentences with emphatic stress resulted in compensatory changes in both F0 and intensity.

Conclusions: Present findings suggest that F0 and intensity are controlled in an integrated fashion to maintain the contrast between stressed and unstressed words. When a cue is impaired through perturbation, speakers not only oppose the perturbation but enhance other prosodic cues to achieve emphatic stress.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example input-output F0 curve for a 200 Hz stress threshold. For values below the threshold, feedback is unaltered, even during the perturbation phase.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Group-wise mean F0 contrast distance by (A) epoch and (B) phase. The contrast distance is a measure of the difference between stressed and unstressed words, normalized by the average of that difference in the baseline phase. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Group-wise mean intensity contrast distance by (A) epoch and (B) phase. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Group-wise word duration contrast distance by (A) epoch and (B) phase. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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