Does Implicit Voice Learning Improve Spoken Language Processing? Implications for Clinical Practice
Publication: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume 61, Number 5
Pages 1251-1260
Abstract
Purpose
In typical interactions with other speakers, including a clinical environment, listeners become familiar with voices through implicit learning. Previous studies have found evidence for a Familiar Talker Advantage (better speech perception and spoken language processing for familiar voices) following explicit voice learning. The current study examined whether a Familiar Talker Advantage would result from implicit voice learning.
Method
Thirty-three adults and 16 second graders were familiarized with 1 of 2 talkers' voices over 2 days through live interactions as 1 of 2 experimenters administered standardized tests and interacted with the listeners. To assess whether this implicit voice learning would generate a Familiar Talker Advantage, listeners completed a baseline sentence recognition task and a post-learning sentence recognition task with both the familiar talker and the unfamiliar talker.
Results
No significant effect of voice familiarity was found for either the children or the adults following implicit voice learning. Effect size estimates suggest that familiarity with the voice may benefit some listeners, despite the lack of an overall effect of familiarity.
Discussion
We discuss possible clinical implications of this finding and directions for future research.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume 61 • Number 5 • 17 May 2018
Pages: 1251-1260
PubMed: 29800358
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
History
- Received: Aug 10, 2017
- Revised: Dec 2, 2017
- Accepted: Jan 19, 2018
- Published in issue: May 17, 2018
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