Shuhao Zhang
Other people with similar names: Shuhao Zhang, Shuhao Zhang, Shuhao Zhang
Unverified author pages with similar names: Shuhao Zhang
2026
Roles of Predictability and Acoustic Distance in Sound Discrimination via Contrastive Learning
Shuhao Zhang | Youngah Do
Proceedings of the Society for Computation in Linguistics 2026
Shuhao Zhang | Youngah Do
Proceedings of the Society for Computation in Linguistics 2026
Research in sound discrimination demonstrates that listeners exhibit reduced sensitivity to acoustic differences between allophones, as opposed to phonemes. Previous studies indicates that highly predictable, complementary distribution of allophones contributes to this limited sensitivity by providing strong contextual cues. Building on these insights, this study investigates the role of predictability in sound discrimination within a supervised contrastive learning framework. Specifically, we examine how varying levels of predictability affect the ability to distinguish sounds and whether this influence is categorical or gradual. Additionally, we explore the interaction between acoustic distance and predictability, as well as how the presence of other contrasts within a language modulates this process. Our findings indicate that only full predictability leads to a significant decline in discrimination performance, demonstrating a categorical effect. This impairment can be alleviated as acoustic distance increases. Moreover, the presence of additional contrasts sharing the relevant acoustic dimension enhances discriminability, showing the importance of contextual contrasts in speech perception.