Note on the use of correlations in speech timing.

A large number of investigators use Pearson's product-moment correlation in analyzing the temporal organization of speech. Some of their papers present results obtained by correlation between overlapping intervals. The purpose of this letter is to show that a high correlation could be a "statistical artifact" in such a method. Second, it mathematically points out incorrect reasoning by Tuller and Kelso in their reply to such an argument [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 76, 1030-1036 (1984)].