The Effect of Differing Noise Spectra On the Consistency of Identification of Consonants

Abstract

This experiment was an analytical study which attempted to clarify the effects of differing noise spectra on the consistency of identification of consonants. The two noise spectra used in this experiment were those spectra most closely associated with communications media. The materials used in analysing the effects were of sufficiently diverse nature as to preclude any a priori assumption of similarity. The results indicate that a considerable amount of consistency exists for consonantal confusions, with some predictable shifts. The implications of this study, for design and development of communications devices and systems, are that phonemic confusions, when analysed by using white noise as a masking agent, are probably representative of the types of confusions that occur in communications networks.

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