MARCS Research Seminar

Professor Jan Edwards from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be presenting " Individual differences in speech perception: Evidence from visual analog scaling and eye-tracking."

Abstract: While much research has focused on categorical perception of speech and what tasks elicit categorical responses, there has been little examination of individual differences in categorical perception. We conducted a series of speech perception experiments using visual analogue scaling and anticipatory eye-movement to examine individual differences in responding to the voicing contrast. We found that some listeners were more categorical than others and that these differences were consistent across two test sessions. These individual differences were also related to measures of executive function, suggesting that they are not random response strategies, but are systematically related to characteristics of individual listeners.