A Note on the Variability of Timing Control

Analyses of duration data measured from connected-speech signals for three "slow" and three "fast" adult talkers produced, for various sound categories and talkers, mean values and standard deviations that demonstrated strong functional relationships. These relationships preclude the use of the two measurements as independent descriptors of speech production. Typical distributions are shown. The implications of these data for the interpretation of the standard deviation of duration distributions in studies of the development of motor control and skilled action in children are discussed.