Facilitating speech detection in style!: the effect of visual speaking style on the detection of speech in noise

Speakers naturally modify the way they produce speech depending on the listening environment. A hyper-articulatory speaking style is typically employed when listening circumstances are difficult. In contrast, hypo-articulation is adopted when the elements for listening are favourable. Previous research suggests that the intentions of the speaker are realized in listener’s recognition of spoken utterances [1]. Given recent findings that the sight of articulating faces increase the detectability of speech in noise [2, 3, 4, 5]; the present study investigates whether speech in noise is more detectable when the listener views hyper-articulated compared to hypo-articulated speech. Normal, Hyperand Hypo-articulated styles of “ba, bi, bu, da, ga, tha” spoken by three speakers were paired with corresponding static images (auditory information only) or dynamic (audio-visual condition) visual articulations in a two interval (noise only/speech plus noise) forced choice detection task at three signal-to-noise ratios (0dB, 2dB, and -4dB). Seeing the articulating face provides a significant advantage for detecting speech in noise compared to auditory only presentation regardless of speaking style. Additionally, hyper-articulated speech offered a significant advantage over hypo-articulated speech suggesting that the amount of facial movement may modulate the AV facilitation effect in the detection of speech in noise.