The comprehension of rate-incremented aural coding.

Stimulus and psychological measures of a battery of 36 rate-manipulated versions of an extended message indicate that optimization of the efficiency of aural coding beyond that previously reported can be accomplished by the simultaneous application of a combination of natural and artificial distortions of the durational characteristics of speech. Peak efficiency of listening was successfully pushed to 400 wpm (words per minutes) primarily by means of a selective reduction of speech pause time. Regression estimates predicting the influence of pause time, total duration, and talker rate upon judgments of speech rate and comprehension are presented and implications for listening strategies and speech apperception drawn.