Spectral valleys contribute little to vowel identification compared with formants

Evidence

In one application of the excitation pattern, Leek and Summers (1996) used the excitation pattern to generate a stimulus that masked the spectral valley, but not the formants. This noise had a lower level relative to the vowel than the one just illustrated. Leek and Summers found that noise had only a small effect on vowel identification. This finding suggests that the spectral valley is not nearly as important for vowel identification as the representation of the formants. Such results provide fuel for a hot debate in the speech-perception literature, as there is also evidence in support of a wholespectrum model for vowel perception (Ito, Tsuchida, & Yano, 1999; Molis, 2005). — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 520

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that excitation-pattern masking experiments isolate which spectral components carry perception.
• XREF: connects to: Vowel identification depends on formant peaks being representable in the output spectrum. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1368