The effects of cognitive activity and perceptual details on speech source monitoring

Abstract

Our purpose in this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive operations and perceptual details on speech source monitoring. In Phase 1, correctly spelled words and anagrams were presented in Expt 1. Words were read aloud by participants, by a same-sex voice, or by an opposite-sex voice. Immediately after Phase 1, in Phase 2, participants were asked whether each word had been read aloud by the participants themselves, by a same-sex voice, or by an opposite-sex voice. Source discrimination between own speech and that produced by a same-sex voice was poorer than between own speech and an opposite-sex voice. In addition, misattribution of the speech of another to one's self increased as the level of cognitive effort required for the task increased. In Expt 2, misattributions to same-sex voice were assigned 'know' responses more frequently and misattributions to one's self were assigned 'remember' responses more frequently. These results suggest that qualitative characteristics such as perceptual detail and cognitive operations are differentially influencing misattributions to the self and those to same-sex voices.