Delayed auditory feedback with delayed sounds varying in duration

Abstract

Speakers frequently report using strategies to circumvent the disruptive effects of delayed speech feedback. Often the strategies adopted are inconsistent with the traditional account, which maintains that the disruption occurs because speakers try to use the delayed speech for feedback control, even though it is now delayed and therefore is inappropriate for this control purpose. One strategy that subjects report using is to wait for the delayed sound to stop before proceeding with more speech. A prediction that follows is that disruption at a particular delay will depend upon the length of the delayed sound. We tested and confirmed this prediction by truncating the delayed speech and assessing the disruption this caused. The same effect occurred when a nonspeech sound was substituted for the delayed speech. The implications of adopting this strategy for coping with the effects of delayed auditory feedback, and the equivalent results obtained with speech and nonspeech, are discussed with respect to alternative accounts about why such disruption might Occur. © 1987 Psychonomic Society, Inc.