Perceptuomotor adaptation to natural speech adaptors

Perceptuomotor adaptation has been demonstrated using synthetic adaptors [Cooper and Nager, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 58, 256–265 (1975); Jamieson and Cheesman, J. Phonet. 15, 15–27 (1987)]. However, similar results have not been obtained when natural adaptors were employed [Summerfield et al., J. Phonet. 8, 491–499 (1980); Shuster and Fox, ASHA 28, 72 (1986)]. In the present study, subjects produced examples of the token [rət^hi] prior to adaptation and then after perceptual adaptation with a naturally produced [rəp^hi]. Voice onset time was then measured for each spoken utterance. It was found that VOTs were significantly shorter after adaptation to the bisyllable than they were prior to adaptation. These results are similar to those obtained with synthetic adaptors and support the notion that perceptuomotor adaptation reflects a perception‐production link.