Faster production, better recognition, more information: How speech rate affects fast speech perception and information transmission

Speech production and perception are assumed to be closely connected. However, whether this connection extends to the domain of fast speech remains underexplored. The first goal of the current study was to examine whether faster speakers also recognize fast speech more accurately than slower speakers. The second goal was to investigate whether speaking at a fast rate is accompanied by producing a greater amount of linguistic material. Using a within-participant design, 150 Hebrew speakers completed three fast speech recognition tasks: natural fast speech, natural fast speech in noise, and time-compressed speech. Their speech and articulation rates were extracted from reading and spontaneous conversational samples. Results revealed small and task-dependent associations between speech production rate and recognition of fast speech. In addition, fast speakers produced more syllables per utterance, a pattern hypothesized to reflect an information transmission mechanism. These findings suggest that individual speech rates may influence both perception and the amount of linguistic material produced during speech. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying these effects.