TY - JOUR
T1 - Sound specificity effects in spoken word recognition
T2 - The effect of integrality between words and sounds
AU - Strori, Dorina
AU - Zaar, Johannes
AU - Cooke, Martin
AU - Mattys, Sven
N1 - © The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2017. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details
PY - 2017/10/3
Y1 - 2017/10/3
N2 - Recent evidence has shown that non-linguistic sounds co-occurring with spoken words may be retained in memory and affect later retrieval of the words. This "sound-specificity effect" shares many characteristics with the classic voice-specificity effect. In this study, we argue that the sound-specificity effect is conditional upon the context in which the word and sound co-exist. Specifically, we argue that, besides co-occurrence, integrality between words and sounds is a crucial factor in the emergence of the effect. In two recognition-memory experiments, we compared the emergence of voice and sound specificity effects. In Experiment 1, we examined two conditions where integrality is high. Namely, the classic voice-specificity effect (1A) was compared with a condition in which the intensity envelope of a background sound was modulated along the intensity envelope of the accompanying spoken word (1B). Results revealed a robust voice-specificity effect and, critically, a comparable sound-specificity effect: A change in the paired sound from exposure to test led to a decrease in word recognition performance. In the second experiment, we sought to disentangle the contribution of integrality from a mere co-occurrence context effect by removing the intensity modulation. The absence of integrality led to the disappearance of the sound specificity effect. Taken together, the results suggest that the assimilation of background sounds into memory cannot be reduced to a simple context effect. Rather, it is conditioned by the extent to which words and sounds are perceived as integral as opposed to distinct auditory objects.
AB - Recent evidence has shown that non-linguistic sounds co-occurring with spoken words may be retained in memory and affect later retrieval of the words. This "sound-specificity effect" shares many characteristics with the classic voice-specificity effect. In this study, we argue that the sound-specificity effect is conditional upon the context in which the word and sound co-exist. Specifically, we argue that, besides co-occurrence, integrality between words and sounds is a crucial factor in the emergence of the effect. In two recognition-memory experiments, we compared the emergence of voice and sound specificity effects. In Experiment 1, we examined two conditions where integrality is high. Namely, the classic voice-specificity effect (1A) was compared with a condition in which the intensity envelope of a background sound was modulated along the intensity envelope of the accompanying spoken word (1B). Results revealed a robust voice-specificity effect and, critically, a comparable sound-specificity effect: A change in the paired sound from exposure to test led to a decrease in word recognition performance. In the second experiment, we sought to disentangle the contribution of integrality from a mere co-occurrence context effect by removing the intensity modulation. The absence of integrality led to the disappearance of the sound specificity effect. Taken together, the results suggest that the assimilation of background sounds into memory cannot be reduced to a simple context effect. Rather, it is conditioned by the extent to which words and sounds are perceived as integral as opposed to distinct auditory objects.
U2 - 10.3758/s13414-017-1425-3
DO - 10.3758/s13414-017-1425-3
M3 - Article
SN - 1943-3921
JO - Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
JF - Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
ER -