Entrainment to speech rhythm from perception to production

Beith, Alistair (2025) Entrainment to speech rhythm from perception to production. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Human speech comprehension requires a highly coordinated engagement of linguistic processes. Speech contains complex layers of information to be decoded and often acted on just-in-time. This thesis explores the possible role of speech rhythm in connecting the speech we hear to the speech we produce. Two methodological chapters are presented. The first reviews and evaluates different approaches to creating rhythmic speech stimuli. The second highlights the challenges of collecting precise and accurate auditory response times in web-based experiments. These methods are then applied to a series of three experiments, each building on the last. In a new experimental paradigm, participants responded verbally to simple maths sums where tempo and rhythm were manipulated. Both time-domain and frequency-domain analyses found effects of stimulus tempo on the timing of responses.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Supervisor's Name: Barr, Dr. Dale and Smith, Dr. Rachel
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85091
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 25 Apr 2025 10:42
• Last Modified: 25 Apr 2025 10:42
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85091
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85091