Effects of speeded speech presentations on confidence-weighted and traditional comprehension scores

The two-process hypothesis suggests that presentation rate can be increased, without a corresponding loss in comprehension, until it reaches and exceeds the receiver’s decoding capacity, suggesting a non-linear rate-comprehension relationship. In the present study this prediction of non-linearity was evaluated in light of both confidence-weighted and traditional comprehension scores. The results indicate that comprehension operationalized by traditional scoring techniques is not significantly affected until presentation rates reach 280 words per minute, a finding consistent with previous research. However, when confidence-weighted scoring is employed, increased presentation rate is accompanied by linear decreases in comprehension.