Abstract: A production script for interactions between participants and an automated data collection system is created by selectively tuning an experimental script through successive trials until a recognition rate of the system is at least an acceptability threshold. The data collection system uses a semi-constrained grammar, which is a practical accommodation of a larger range of possible inputs than a menu. The data collection system collects data by recognizing utterances from participants in accordance with the production script.

Abstract: A method and device for segmenting an electric (acoustic) signal. A number of parameters, for example "log area" parameters, are derived as a function of time from the electric signal (block 2). For consecutive instants the signals of the parameters located within a time interval around each instant are taken up and transition functions (.0..sub.i ) are derived therefrom for each instant (block 3). Subsequently similarity factors (c.sub.ij) are determined each between two transition functions (.0..sub.i and .0..sub.j) associated with respective proximate instants (i and j) (block 4) and a replacing transition function (.0..sub.ij.sup.c) is derived (block 6) from the transition functions of at least one group of two transition functions for which the associated similarity factor is larger than a reference value V, the transition function (.0..sub.ij.sup.c) replace the aforementioned transition functions from which it is derived (block 7).A combined transition function (.0..sub.ij.sup.