Inter-dependent categorization of voices and segments
Listeners performed speeded two-alternative choice
between two unfamiliar and relatively similar voices
or between two phonetically close segments, in VC
syllables. For each decision type (segment, voice),
the non-target dimension (voice, segment) either
was constant, or varied across four alternatives.
Responses were always slower when a non-target
dimension varied than when it did not, but the effect
of phonetic variation on voice identity decision was
stronger than that of voice variation on phonetic
identity decision. Cues to voice and segment identity
in speech are processed inter-dependently, but hard
categorization decisions about voices draw on, and
are hence sensitive to, segmental information.
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