The human species is largely defined by its use of spoken language, so integral is speech communication to behavior and social interaction. Despite its importance in everyday life, comparatively little is known about the auditory mechanisms that underlie the ability to understand language. The current volume examines the perception and processing of speech from the perspective of the hearing system. The chapters in this book describe a comprehensive set of approaches to the scientific study of speech and hearing, ranging from anatomy and physiology, to psychophysics and perception, and computational modeling. The auditory basis of speech is examined within a biological and an evolutionary context, and its relevance to applied domains such as communication disorders and speech technology discussed in detail. This volume will be of interest to scientists, engineers, and clinicians whose professional work pertains to any aspect of spoken language or hearing science.
Reviews

"The chapters in Listening to Speech provide a compelling case for the importance of audition in shaping the speech signal. The book will be of interest to professionals such as scientists, engineers and clinicians, as well as graduate students whose work and studies pertain to any aspect of spoken language or hearing science."

—SirReadaLot.org

Contents

Contents: S. Greenberg, Preface. Part I: Introduction. W. Ainsworth, S. Greenberg, Auditory Processing of Speech. Part II: Acoustic and Perceptual Cues Germane to the Perception of Speech. A. van Wieringen, L. Pols, Perception of Highly Dynamic Properties in Speech. R. Drullman, The Significance of Temporal Modulation Frequencies for Speech Intelligibility. D. Kewley-Port, A. Neel, Perception of Dynamic Properties of Speech: Peripheral and Central Processes. Part III: Anatomical and Physiological Bases of Speech Perception. C.M. Hackney, From Cochlea to Cortex: A Simple Anatomical Description. J.C. Adams, Neuroanatomical Considerations of Speech ProcE. Budinger, P. Heil, Anatomy of the Auditory Cortex. M.B. Sachs, B.J. May, G.S. Le Prell, R.D. Hienz, Adequacy of Auditory-Nerve Rate Representations of Vowels: Comparison With Behavioral Measures in Cat. C.E. Schreiner, S.W. Wong, H.R. Dinse, Temporal Processing in Cat Primary Auditory Cortex: Dynamic Frequency Tuning and Spectro-Temporal Representation of Speech Sounds. G. Meyer, Anatomical and Physiological Bases of Speech Perception. Part IV: Neuroethological Parallels to Speech Processing. N. Suga, Basic Acoustic Patterns and Neural Mechanisms Shared by Humans and Animals for Auditory Perception. C.H. Brown, J.M. Sinnott, Cross-Species Comparisons of Vocal Perception. K.R. Kluender, A.J. Lotto, L.L. Holt, Contributions of Nonhuman Animal Models to Understanding Human Speech Perception. Part V: Robustness of Spoken Language in Adverse Acoustic Environments and Its Utility for Speech Recognition. A.Q. Summerfield, J.F. Culling, P.F. Assmann, The Perception of Speech Under Adverse Conditions: Contri...