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Publication Date
Spring 2025
Degree Type
Thesis - Campus Access Only
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
Advisor
Christina Tzeng; Cary Feria; Evan Palmer
Abstract
Listeners rapidly adapt to variation in speech through perceptual learning. The present study examined the extent to which perceptual learning of non-native accented speech varies as a function of task-directed shifts in attention. Listeners completed an exposure phase during which they heard English sentences produced by Spanish accented talkers while completing tasks requiring different levels of attention to the target stimuli. Across conditions, listeners completed either alternating transcription and talker identification tasks (Task-Relevant condition), a symbol-to-number matching task (Task-Irrelevant condition), or the same task as in the Task-Relevant condition but with native English sentences (Control). At test, listeners transcribed novel sentences spoken by novel Spanish-accented talkers. The trajectory of perceptual learning differed across conditions such that during the first half of test trials, transcription accuracy was reliably higher for the task-irrelevant versus the control condition. This suggests that, especially for first encounters with novel voices, passive exposure to a non-native accent can potentially yield learning of accent-general characteristics that transfers to novel voices of the same accent.
Recommended Citation
Atamna, Byonne, "The Role of Attention in the Perception of Non-native Accented Speech" (2025). Master's Theses. 5637.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.cjyu-zusm
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5637
