Is non-native speech processed in less detail and, if so, why?

Research Overview

In the current series of experiments, we seek to understand why foreign-accented speech is processed in less detail compared to native-accented speech.

The goal of this work is to contrast two potential explanations of this observation: one arguing that foreign-accented speech is more difficult to process because of its higher signal variability, and another one attributing the phenomenon to a listener’s expectation that non-native speech should be less reliable and accurate.

We contrast these potential accounts by manipulating speaker accent (native vs. non-native) and information about the speaker’s expertise (expert vs. non-expert).

Lab members involved in this research