31. The method of claim 29 wherein an adjustment amount for the acceptance threshold is a fixed amount.
29. A method for recognizing speech, the method comprising the steps of: analyzing speech input with an apparatus using at least one hardware-implemented processor to generate a hypothesis of words and respective confidence factors for the words; comparing each said confidence factor to a threshold for accepting or rejecting the word; and if the word is not accepted, comparing at least a portion of the hypothesis containing the word to at least a portion of an expected response, and if the comparison is favorable, storing the word for subsequent analysis; adjusting the acceptance threshold and comparing the confidence factor for at least one stored word to the adjusted acceptance threshold.