Distortion of the Temporal Pattern of Speech by Syllable-Tied Alternation

Speech was switched alternately to the left and right ears of subjects (1) at every syllable boundary, (2) at every C-V junction, (3) at the middle of every vowel, (4) at every V-C junction, (5) at every C-V junction and at every V-C junction, and (6) regularly, at a rate equal to the average rate in 1 - 4 above. The intelligibility of the speech with each type of alternation was assessed from the performance of subjects who echoed what they heard. The results show that a greater reduction in intelligibility occurred when the alternation was tied to the syllables than when it was regular in time, but revealed only small differences between the five types of syllable-tied alternation.