The Influence of Familiarity on Judgments of Treated Speech

Three groups of 10 naive listeners transcribed sentences produced by a dysarthric speaker. The first group (Control) transcribed sentences that the speaker read in her customary manner. A second group (Treatment) transcribed the same sentences; however, the speaker produced them while implementing a breath-group strategy that she had learned in speech treatment. A final group of listeners (Familiarization) also transcribed the sentences that were produced by the speaker as she implemented the breath-group strategy. However, this Familiarization group first listened to an audiotape of the speaker reading aloud a paragraph as they followed along with a written script. This was regarded as a familiarization procedure. Statistical analysis revealed that the Familiarization group outperformed the Treatment group, which in turn outperformed the Control group. Potential perceptual benefits resulting from the familiarization procedure are discussed, along with clinical implications.