The importance of temporal fine structure for the intelligibility of speech in complex backgrounds

Forfattere

  • Brian C. J. Moore Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, England

Resumé

Any complex sound that enters the normal ear is decomposed by the auditory filters into a series of relatively narrowband signals, each of which can be considered as a slowly varying envelope (E) superimposed on a more rapid temporal fine structure (TFS). It has been argued by several researchers that E information is sufficient for good intelligibility of speech in quiet, but that understanding speech in complex backgrounds, especially competing talkers, may require the use of TFS information. Hearing - impaired people appear to have a reduced ability to use TFS information, and this may partly account for their relatively poor ability to understand speech in complex backgrounds. Several studies are reviewed that assess these ideas, using both normal -hearing and hearing -impaired listeners. It is argued that TFS information may contribute to the perceptual segregation of speech from complex backgrounds, but that TFS information is probably not selectively involved in “dip listening”. The ability to use TFS information appears to decline with increasing age from the twenties onwards, even when the audiogram remains normal, and this partly accounts for the reduced ability of older listeners to understand speech in complex backgrounds.

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Publiceret

2011-12-15

Citation/Eksport

Moore, B. C. J. (2011). The importance of temporal fine structure for the intelligibility of speech in complex backgrounds. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 3, 21–32. Hentet fra https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2011-03

Nummer

Sektion

2011/1. Indicators of hearing impairment and measures of speech perception