Subject: [AUDITORY] PhD Opportunity at Universit=?iso-8859-1?Q?=E9_C=F4te_?=d'Azur in Nice - Flexibility of speech comprehension processes From: Michel Hoen <MHOE@xxxxxxxx> Date: Wed, 22 May 2019 07:34:03 +0000 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>--_000_AM6PR0402MB38161303EE4113015EA54C6CC1000AM6PR0402MB3816_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Please find enclosed a link to the PhD offer: Flexibility of speech compreh= ension processes http://bit.ly/2JQvGGS In this PhD. project, we will study how we process non-standard speech soun= ds. Newborns can discriminate all the sounds of world's languages and it's = the exposure to a mother tongue that will restructure perceptual abilities = into phonological abilities specific to that language. As a result, childre= n will quickly become "deaf" or at least less sensitive to linguistic featu= res that are not relevant and useful in their native language. Yet our syst= em must also be flexible because we are regularly in contact with non-stand= ard productions, such as the ones of a person with a strong accent or a per= son with a cold and a stuffy nose. The perceptual flexibility necessary to = understand a message is essential and yet extremely variable from one indiv= idual to another (Perrone-Bertolotti, Tassin & Meunier, 2017). In previous = studies, we were interested in an extreme case of this non-standard speech,= the whistled speech, a natural adaptation of speech (Meyer, Dentel and Meu= nier, 2017). The interindividual variability observed in the capacity to pe= rceive and therefore to understand non-standard speech is very important ev= en in individuals without auditory or language impairments. It becomes extr= eme for individuals who have even slight hearing losses. In this thesis, we= will explore these differences in order to characterize more finely on the= one hand the speech signal alterations that generate the most divergent pe= rceptions and on the other hand the alterations that are most easily compen= sated by the system. Thus we will be able to define the limits of speech va= riability for which the message remains understandable. This work will be b= ased on acoustic analyzes of language productions and the setting up of psy= cholinguistic experiments. This thesis work will therefore aim to capture t= he acoustic features necessary for the understanding of speech and their re= sistance to alterations, while taking into account the interindividual vari= abilities through the characteristics of individuals and situations of comm= unication. Best, --_000_AM6PR0402MB38161303EE4113015EA54C6CC1000AM6PR0402MB3816_ Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html xmlns:v=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o=3D"urn:schemas-micr= osoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" = xmlns:m=3D"http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns=3D"http:= //www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-= 1"> <meta name=3D"Generator" content=3D"Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @xxxxxxxx {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} @xxxxxxxx {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:windowtext;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:#0563C1; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-priority:99; color:#954F72; text-decoration:underline;} span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-compose; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:windowtext;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;} @xxxxxxxx WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext=3D"edit" spidmax=3D"1026" /> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext=3D"edit"> <o:idmap v:ext=3D"edit" data=3D"1" /> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> </head> <body lang=3D"EN-US" link=3D"#0563C1" vlink=3D"#954F72"> <div class=3D"WordSection1"> <p class=3D"MsoNormal">Please find enclosed a link to the PhD offer: <b><sp= an style=3D"font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color= :#1C5081;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Flexibility of speech co= mprehension processes</span></b><o:p></o:p></p> <p><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt"><a href=3D"http://bit.ly/2JQvGGS">http:= //bit.ly/2JQvGGS</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Ari= al",sans-serif;color:#00294B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"= >In this PhD. project, we will study how we process non-standard speech sou= nds. Newborns can discriminate all the sounds of world's languages and it's the exposure to a mother tongue that will re= structure perceptual abilities into phonological abilities specific to that= language. As a result, children will quickly become "deaf" or at= least less sensitive to linguistic features that are not relevant and useful in their native language. Yet our system = must also be flexible because we are regularly in contact with non-standard= productions, such as the ones of a person with a strong accent or a person= with a cold and a stuffy nose. The perceptual flexibility necessary to understand a message is essential = and yet extremely variable from one individual to another (Perrone-Bertolot= ti, Tassin & Meunier, 2017). In previous studies, we were interested in= an extreme case of this non-standard speech, the whistled speech, a natural adaptation of speech (Meyer, Dentel= and Meunier, 2017). The interindividual variability observed in the capaci= ty to perceive and therefore to understand non-standard speech is very impo= rtant even in individuals without auditory or language impairments. It becomes extreme for individuals who h= ave even slight hearing losses. In this thesis, we will explore these diffe= rences in order to characterize more finely on the one hand the speech sign= al alterations that generate the most divergent perceptions and on the other hand the alterations that are = most easily compensated by the system. Thus we will be able to define the l= imits of speech variability for which the message remains understandable. T= his work will be based on acoustic analyzes of language productions and the setting up of psycholinguistic ex= periments. This thesis work will therefore aim to capture the acoustic feat= ures necessary for the understanding of speech and their resistance to alte= rations, while taking into account the interindividual variabilities through the characteristics of individua= ls and situations of communication.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3D"MsoNormal">Best, <o:p></o:p></p> </div> </body> </html> --_000_AM6PR0402MB38161303EE4113015EA54C6CC1000AM6PR0402MB3816_--