Predictability effects on speech perception in noise (SPIN) in Korean

Abstract

This study investigates speech perception in noise (SPIN) in Korean. A new type of Korean SPIN test was developed by adopting a similar format to the English SPIN test. The predictability effects, noise effects and their interactions were examined in order to verify the previous findings based on English. The data from 14 Korean adults collected with this new type of Korean SPIN test confirmed the previous findings: first, the participants’ overall performance was better in low noise conditions than in high noise conditions. Secondly, there was a tendency for highly predictable words to be more accurately perceived than less predictable words especially in high noise conditions. The results were interpreted in such a way that the listeners actively used both types of information: acoustic information and contextual information in speech perception. When the acoustic property of the speech sound was degraded with noise, the listeners took advantage of the linguistic contextual information in their processing of the speech sound. The findings of this study conform to those of the previous studies based on the English SPIN test. In addition, a possible effect of the frequency of target word was also found, calling for further investigation in this field of research in Korean. Implications of the results were also discussed. (Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies)