This book interconnects two essential disciplines to study the perception of speech: Neuroscience and Quality of Experience, which to date have rarely been used together for the purposes of research on speech quality perception. In five key experiments, the book demonstrates the application of standard clinical methods in neurophysiology on the one hand and of methods used in fields of research concerned with speech quality perception on the other. Using this combination, the book shows that speech stimuli with different lengths and different quality impairments are accompanied by physiological reactions related to quality variations, e.g., a positive peak in an event-related potential. Furthermore, it demonstrates that – in most cases – quality impairment intensity has an impact on the intensity of physiological reactions.

This book presents a new approach to examining the perceived quality of audiovisual sequences. It uses electroencephalography (EEG) to explain in detail how user quality judgments are formed within a test participant, and what the physiological implications might be when subjects are exposed to lower quality media. The book redefines the experimental paradigms of using EEG in the area of quality assessment so that they better suit the requirements of standard subjective quality testing, and presents experimental protocols and stimuli that have been adjusted accordingly.

This book provides a new multi-method, process-oriented approach towards speech quality assessment, which allows readers to examine the influence of speech transmission quality on a variety of perceptual and cognitive processes in human listeners. Fundamental concepts and methodologies surrounding the topic of process-oriented quality assessment are introduced and discussed. The book further describes a functional process model of human quality perception, which theoretically integrates results obtained in three experimental studies. This book’s conceptual ideas, empirical findings, and theoretical interpretations should be of particular interest to researchers working in the fields of Quality and Usability Engineering, Audio Engineering, Psychoacoustics, Audiology, and Psychophysiology.

Sensory Evaluation of Sound provides a detailed review of the latest sensory evaluation techniques, specifically applied to the evaluation of sound and audio. This three-part book commences with an introduction to the fundamental role of sound and hearing, which is followed by an overview of sensory evaluation methods and associated univariate and multivariate statistical analysis techniques. The final part of the book provides several chapters with concrete real-world applications of sensory evaluation ranging from telecommunications, hearing aids design and binaural sound, via the latest research in concert hall acoustics through to audio-visual interaction. Aimed at the engineer, researcher, university student or manager the book gives insight into the advanced methods for the sensory evaluation with many application examples. Introduces the fundamental of hearing and the value of sound Provides a firm theoretical basis for advanced techniques in sensory evaluation of sound that are then illustrated with concrete examples from university research through to industrial product development Includes chapters on sensory evaluation practices and methods as well as univariate and multivariate statistical analysis Six application chapters covering a wide range of concrete sensory evaluation study examples including insight into audio-visual assessment Includes data analysis with several associated downloadable datasets Provides extensive references to the existing research literature, text books and standards

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the First International Workshop on Future and Emergent Trends in Language Technology, FETLT 2015, held in Seville, Spain, in November 2015. The 10 full papers presented together with 3 position papers and 7 invited keynote abstracts were selected from numerous submissions. The structure of the Workshop will feature a significant number of experts in language technologies and convergent areas. One objective will be the organization of forum sessions in order to review some of the current-trend research projects that are already addressing new methodological approaches and proposing solutions and innovative applications. A second major objective will be brainstorming sessions where representatives of the most innovative industrial sector in this area can present and describe the challenges and socio-economic needs of the present and immediate future. All researchers are invited to submit proposals that incorporate solid research and innovation ideas in the field of language technology and in connection with other convergent areas.

A comprehensive and unified account of the neural computations underlying speech production, offering a theoretical framework bridging the behavioral and the neurological literatures. In this book, Frank Guenther offers a comprehensive, unified account of the neural computations underlying speech production, with an emphasis on speech motor control rather than linguistic content. Guenther focuses on the brain mechanisms responsible for commanding the musculature of the vocal tract to produce articulations that result in an acoustic signal conveying a desired string of syllables. Guenther provides neuroanatomical and neurophysiological descriptions of the primary brain structures involved in speech production, looking particularly at the cerebral cortex and its interactions with the cerebellum and basal ganglia, using basic concepts of control theory (accompanied by nontechnical explanations) to explore the computations performed by these brain regions. Guenther offers a detailed theoretical framework to account for a broad range of both behavioral and neurological data on the production of speech. He discusses such topics as the goals of the neural controller of speech; neural mechanisms involved in producing both short and long utterances; and disorders of the speech system, including apraxia of speech and stuttering. Offering a bridge between the neurological and behavioral literatures on speech production, the book will be a valuable resource for researchers in both fields.

This volume will cover a variety of topics, including child language development; hearing loss; listening in noise; statistical learning; poverty; auditory processing disorder; cochlear neuropathy; attention; and aging. It will appeal broadly to auditory scientists—and in fact, any scientist interested in the biology of human communication and learning. The range of the book highlights the interdisciplinary series of questions that are pursued using the auditory frequency-following response and will accordingly attract a wide and diverse readership, while remaining a lasting resource for the field.