Familiarization effects on consonant intelligibility in dysarthric speech

Abstract

Background/Aims: This study investigates the effects of familiarization on naïve listeners' ability to identify consonants in dysarthric speech. Methods: A total of 120 listeners (30 listeners/speaker) participated in experiments over a 6-week period. Listeners were randomly assigned to one of the three familiarization conditions: a passive condition in which listeners heard audio recordings of words, an active condition in which listeners heard audio recordings of words while viewing the written material of words, and a control condition in which listeners had no exposure to the audio signal prior to identification tasks. Results: Familiarization improved naïve listeners' ability to identify consonants produced by a speaker with dysarthria. The active familiarization method exhibited an advantage over the other conditions, in terms of the magnitude and rapidness of improvement. One-month delayed test scores were higher than pre-familiarization scores, but the advantage of active familiarization was not present for all speakers. Conclusion: This study supports familiarization benefits in enhancing consonant intelligibility in dysarthria and suggests that perceptual learning mechanisms be harnessed for developing effective listener-oriented intervention techniques in the management of dysarthria. Current findings call for further research on a familiarization protocol that can subserve segmental learning with maximum efficacy.