Elsevier

Cognition

Volume 21, Issue 1, October 1985, Pages 1-36
Cognition

The motor theory of speech perception revised

https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(85)90021-6Get rights and content

Abstract

A motor theory of speech perception, initially proposed to account for results of early experiments with synthetic speech, is now extensively revised to accommodate recent findings, and to relate the assumptions of the theory to those that might be made about other perceptual modes. According to the revised theory, phonetic information is perceived in a biologically distinct system, a ‘module’ specialized to detect the intended gestures of the speaker that are the basis for phonetic categories. Built into the structure of this module is the unique but lawful relationship between the gestures and the acoustic patterns in which they are variously overlapped. In consequence, the module causes perception of phonetic structure without translation from preliminary auditory impressions. Thus, it is comparable to such other modules as the one that enables an animal to localize sound. Peculiar to the phonetic module are the relation between perception and production it incorporates and the fact that it must compete with other modules for the same stimulus variations.

Résumé

Une théorie motrice de la perception proposée initialement pour rendre compte des résultats des premières expériences avec de la parole synthétique a été largement révisée afin d'interpréter les données récentes et de relier les propositions de cette théorie à celles que l'on peut faire pour d'autres modalités de perception. La révision de cette théorie stipule que l'information phonétique est fournie par un système biologique distinct, un ‘module’ spécialisé pour détecter les gestes que le locuteur a eu l'intention de faire: ces gestes fondent les catégories phonétiques. La relation entre les gestes et les patterns acoustiques dans lesquels ceux-ci sont imbriqués de facon variée est unique mais régulée. Cette relation est construite dans la structure du module. En conséquence le module provoque la perception de la structure phonétique sans traduction à partir d'impressions auditives préliminaires. Ce module est ainsi comparable à d'autres modules tels que celui qui permet à l'animal de localiser les sons. La particularité de ce module tient à la relation entre perception et production qu'il incorpore et an fait qu'il doit rivaliser avec d'autres modules pour de mêmes variations de stimulus.

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  • Cited by (0)

    The writing of this paper was supported by a grant to Haskins Laboratories (NIH-NICHD HD-01994). We owe a special debt to Harriet Magen for invaluable help with the relevant literature, and to Alice Dadourian for coping with an ever-changing manuscript. For their patient responses to our frequent requests for information and criticism, we thank Franklin Cooper, Jerry Fodor, Carol Fowler, Scott Kelso, Charles Liberman, Robert Remez, Bruno Repp, Arthur Samuel, Michael Studdert-Kennedy, Michael Turvey, and Douglas Whalen. We also acknowledge the insightful comments of an anonymous reviewer.

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