ABSTRACT
Can we build a system that can recognize and interpret speech? Many approaches to this problem begin with the study of the best existence proof we have-human speech perception. Given the immense complex ity of the problem, these approaches have tended to focus on some nar row aspect of the overall problem. The many studies in acousticphonetics and mechanisms of hearing fall into this category. While such studies have provided a wealth of extremely useful information, the global question of how a human recognizes and interprets speech is not yet well understood.