Speech Science - Speech Perception

Speech Perception

Speech perception refers to the understanding of speech. The beginning of the process towards understanding speech is first hearing the message that is spoken. The auditory system receives sound signals starting at the outer ear. They enter the pinna and continue into the external auditory canal (ear canal) and then to the eardrum. Once in the middle ear, which consists of the malleus, the incus, and the stapes; the sounds are changed into mechanical energy. After being converted into mechanical energy, the message reaches the oval window, which is the beginning of the inner ear. Once inside the inner ear, the message is transferred into hydraulic energy by going through the cochlea, which is filled with fluid, and on to the Organ of Corti. This organ again helps the sound to be transferred into a neural impulse that stimulates the auditory pathway and reaches the brain. Sound is then processed in Heschl’s gyrus and associated with meaning in Wernicke’s area. As for theories of speech perception, there are a motor and an auditory theory. The motor theory is based upon the premise that speech sounds are encoded in the acoustic signal rather than enciphered in it. The auditory theory puts greater emphasis on the sensory and filtering mechanisms of the listener and suggests that speech knowledge is a minor role that’s only used in hard perceptual conditions.