Thomas Schatz
Department of Linguistics
University of Maryland

Quantitative models of adult phonetic category perception and infant phonetic learning

I leverage speech technology to build quantitative models of adult phonetic category perception and infant phonetic learning in humans. In this talk, I will show how this approach not only provides concrete implementation of cognitive theories and tests of the similarity between machines and humans, but also can reveal blindspots in our current understanding of infant speech processing, leading to the development of new theories. I’m also hopeful that it will lead to improvements in speech technology, in particular for low/zero-resource technologies.

Snacks will be provided.