Psychology of Language (2134)
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Western University**We aren't endorsed by this school
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PSYCHOL 2115
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Linguistics
Date
Dec 20, 2024
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51
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Week #1 IntroductionWhat is psycholinguists?→Understanding speech and language developmentThe field of language sciences→ relatively new compared to things like physics→AI, such as Chat GBT uses language sciences.Learning Language Sciences→ Many things we need to learn about how we acquire, process, and produce language→Chat GBT makes mistakes many mistakes → relies on the use of existing languagemodels→Better language models (finding out what the limitations of the current language models are) =better AI.The Impact of Language Science on My Life→ Very important part of our lives → The main way we communicate with one another-important questions1.How can I write this report so that it’s easier to understand?2.Should I even bother learning a second language in my 20s/30s3.Why doesn’t SIRI work for me?Topics Covered in 1st half of course
Topics covered in 2nd half of courseWeek:2 Origins of Human LanguageOrigin and Evolution of Language (2a)Representational drawings1) Humans produced drawings to represent the world around them long before writing wasinvented●Paintings in caves have been found in caves and date back to 40k years ago○Mainly animals■Lascaux, France → example of animals painting from 15000 BC2)Paintings are impressive but limited in the information they provide●Big advancement → use graphical elements to represent languageGraphical elements1) Comes after representational drawings2) Ealy written records contain picogrpahs●Pictographs convey meaning by their resemblance to a physical object○Example of Picogrpah: Ancient Naxi Donga (China)3) Modern pictrographs●No smoking, no diving, men washroom●Issue: with pictogrpahs●Complex pictures can mean many things○Solution: use Logogrpahs■Symbol/character that represents a whole word
●Egyptian hieroglyphs5)Issue: with logogrpahs●Not all words can be represented easily○Life, Hunger…■Solution: use abstract characters that are not pictographs●Chinese○Problem too much memorization■Soution limit symbols■Individual symbols represent spoken syllables■Allows one to represent anything spoken with amuch reduced number of symbols●Syllabary6)syllabary●Japenese (Katakana) → example of a syllabary system●Would this work for english?○English has approzimalty 15, 000 syllables○Still a lot to learn○Symbols representing sy;;ables remain in labgyuages that contain relatively fewsyllables○Others, like English developed Alphabets7)Alphabets●Symbols represent individual sounds (phonemes) of the language●Advantages\○a)requires very few symbols○b) any word in the language can be represented○c)clear message conveyed8)Old vs modern English●Chages occur very slowlyThe way languages changenovel words●New words added by lexicographers annually●Popularity of certain words○2022 new word was Goblin Modea)Loan Words●Cognates●Inherited from other laangueages●Words in different languages that typically have similar spelling and meaning○night( english○nuit(french○Noch (russainb)prejoration of words●Changes ihn meaning, often for the worse, in existing words○Often relating to women●Nuetral to negative → mistress
○From a female equalivalnet of a master → tyo a women that has an extraaffair●Positive to negative → awful (old english)○Worthy of awe → to bad (modern english)c)Pidgin and Creole languages●A version of an existing language created out of necess for people who do not share acommon language○To help them commuiniate with one another○Consquence of colonization○Pidgen to Creole when a version of the language variant is fully formed/stable■Stable = creole → pigeon to creole●Singlish○Example of a pigeon language that has evolved to a creole language■Singaporean English creole●Singapore○Demographics■Chinsese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian/Mixed race○History:■British colony for 144 years■Independence: 1965●French: potentially going through some changes○Gramtical gender: masculine and femine grammar○Some french speakers believe that the masculine grammar often takesprecedence over the feminine■Group of 10 females and 1 males → whole group is described inmasculine grammar■There are protests from feminists■Some believe that is not a problem■English is easier to change than french (replaicng flight stewardess toflight attendant)
Origin and Evolution of Language (2b)Key points:1) How to speech evolve2) Biology of speech productionSpeech production●Produced by expelling air our of lungs via the vocal folds in our larynx○Vocal folds = vocal cords → Vibrate as the air is pushed up●Vibrations can be produced even if mouth is closed●Speech sounds vary depending on the shape of your mouth, lips and toughModel of the human vocal tract●Pink trombone: Neil Thapen●Interactive articularoty speech synthesizer●A) voice box○Controls pitch and intetity ofg the sound●B)Oral cavity○Close: stoped constants○Naorrow: fricative constants
●dIFFEREBT SPEECH SOUNDS ARE procdued by vary the ways the go through thevocal tractHistory:Changes in the structures of our vocal systems●Larynxs are much lower for modern humans○pro: Allows to to make phonologically distinct sounds○Con: Could choke and die■Argues that communication is more important and outweighs the riskChanges in skull size and nasal cavity
Features of language 2c1)Human language●Language differ in some basic ways○Share many important characteristics●Surface differences but have DEEP similarities2)Theoretical approaches to psycholinguistics●Two important questions:○1)How much of language is innate?○2) How much is language learned?■The two important views for these questions:●1)Nativist view○Much of language is innate●2)Anti-nativist view○Much of language is learned3)Nativist view●Human are programmed to learn language●Have the mental capacity to learn language○So much so that it is coded in our genes●Noam Chomsky: Father of modern linguistics○Universal grammar■learning the rules of grammar is innate●E.g: Children can pick up grammar without being formally taught it■Recursion●Rules can be applied repeatedly on the same forms○Example: The cat cat chased the mouse○The brown cat chased the mouse○John saw the brown cat chased the mouse○Lisa thinks that john saw the brown cat chased the mouse4)Anti-Nativist view●Language is acquired through learning○Human are great learners○Languse is just one of the many things we learn●Language is a mere tool that humans invented and a byproduct of our cognitive abilities○Daniel Everett
■Agrues against Chomsky’s Universal grammar●Main argument: Recursion doesn’t occur in all languages●Features that should be present in all languages is not in:○Piraha lacks recursion■Indigenous people of the amazon rainforest inBrazilFeatures of a language:Hockett’s Design FeaturesA) Semanticity:●Fixed associations between linguistic units and a particular something●Linguistic units convey meaning →Bookb)Arbitrariness●Linguistic units are mapped onto meanings●These fixed associations (spelling and meaning of that word) are arbitrary○Form (spelling) not = meaningc)Discreteness●Linguistic until are distinct from one another●Phonemes: basic units of sounds that make up a word○Linguistic units that are phonologically distinctd)Productivty:●Ever generating○New words can be created all the time■Goblin mode….e)Displacement●Language can be used to describe things that are present nto currently present in aparticular space/time○Describing something in the future or past → NOT just current
f)Duality of Patterning●Words are a combination of small units( sounds) into various sequences●Any words can be formed by combining different smaller sounds○Pat, apt, tapAnimal Communication 2dCommunication:●1)Bacteria can communicate with one another●2)Many species have complex communication with:○Symbolic reference (features of environemnt)○Syntax (the way the vocaliztions are organized)■Example: Honey Bees●a)commuincate specific location and type of food sources■Example: Chickadees and other songbirds●b)Use syntax to structure calls and songs (order of the notes ofthe call matter)■Example Vervet Monekys●c) Have specific alarm calls that refer to different predators○Diff for on ground, in trees and air■Predator call for leopard → run into trees●3)Honeybee waggle dance●When honey bees return to hive:○a)reguritate the food■b)Then will dance (waggle)●This dance indicates where the food is based on how theyare angled towards to the sun●Intestiy of the waggle: indicates how far the food source is
Bird vocalizations:1) Song birds can have complex vocalizations●Two types:○a) Songs■Courtship (make attraction), territorial defence■Mainly courtship○b)Call:■Various functions■Contact calls, idenifitying one self, location of food sources, coordinating2) Calls generally similar and less complex than songs●Bird vocalizations can be incredibly complex○Syrinx → structure allows birds to make sounds■Can make two sets of sounds due to:●Has two sounds sources due to having two Bronchail tubes3) Chickadees●Have different notes in their call○Name comes from their call●Calls vary (can have different notes)○The notes must come inorder (a, than b, than c….)■Syntax●Reversed calls are more complex (calls are more comlex than there song)●Feebee song and chickadee call:
4)What information is conveyed in chickadee calls●Templeton et al, 2005●Recorded the chickadee vocalizations when they were exposed to certain predators○Found that:■The number of d notes was correlated with the predator wing span●Larger wing span =less d notes●Smaller wing span =more d notes■Could be conveying predator wing span though the amount of d notesthey useVervet Alarm Calls:
●Found that vervet moneys respond different to playbacks to alarm calls coming fromeagles, leopards and snakes○Does correspond to the expected behavior when the playbacks for the specificpredatorTeaching animals human language●Other species can be taught aspect sof language○Generally have failed■Some have accomplished teaching a certain degree of complex humanlanguage in animals●The studies○a)washoe■Early case of chimp being trained language■Was taught american sign language●Learned a large number of sybols●Washoe Invented new compounds○Water-bird (when washoe saw a sw○b)Nim Chimsky■Wanted to disprove chompisky was wrong about language is unquinlyhuman (to counter nativist claims of language)■Nim learned hundreds of signs●Cons: Communication was symbolic●Lacked grammar or rules fro sentence construction○Organce sentence○c)Kanzi +Koko■Primate language■Kazi learned to use symbol keyboard while his mother was being trained■Koko(Gorilla) claimed to know thousands of signs, use grammar andadjectives●This was not independently verified●Even the most prolific ones fail when measured agaist a 2 yr old○e)Alex the ParrotConclusion: Animal Communication●1)Animals use amazing and complex communication●2)Can learn to respond to a variety of symbols and soundsa)No good evidence for all the features of language●3)Even the most skilled communication by trained apes is massively impoverishedcomarped to typically developing children●4)Despite remarkably communication and ability to be trained with symbols
a)No other species shows spontaneous development of even the most simplelanguagesWeek: 33a Scientifinc MethodScientificn Methods1) Theory●Explanation for a set of observations●Predicts future observations2) Hypothesis●Prediction derived from a theory●Tests the hypothesis to test the theory3)Falsifiability criterion●Theoy must make predictions that can be disconfirmed by the data●Can never prove a theory true, but can prove it false○Ratio of data that support theory to data that does not4) The research cycle:●Inductive○When making an inference based on your own observations●Deductive○Make an inference on widely accepted views●Hypothese inform theories●Theories generate hypothesis5)Goals of science●a)Naturalistic observation○Process of observing and describing a phenomenon○Observing a animals behavior in the environoment■Goal:Description●b)Correlation○Mathematical technique that seeks patterns in data○Is there a certain pattern in their patterns○Not causal relationship■Goal:prediction●c)Experimnetal method○Means of systematically testing hypotheses in controlled situations○Can create casual statements
■Goal:explanation6)Models and Theories●A)Model:○Simplified version of a phenomenon○A graph, set of equations, computer program●b)Computer model○Mimin behavior, test the theory○Helps overcome unwanted assumptions flaws in logic○Don’t need actually human participants■Layer of ethics that is needed so this can help bypass those ethicalobligations●c)Model and theory○Good model = lends plausibity to a theory○Only data can support of falsify a theory○“All models are wrong, but some are useful”7) Constructs●Constuct○Labels given to a set of observations that seem to be related○Memory, attention, intelligence, personality, language are all constructs●Operational definition○Defines construct in terms of how it is measured■Intelligence → IQ score■Short-term memory capacity → digit span8) Hypotheses testing●Hypothesis predicts a difference between groups○Hypothesis: STM capacity limited by length, not number of words○Experiment: Ask participants to repeat short words or long words○Operational definition: of STM: Number of items one can recall from a list●Experiment details○Theory: people can hold about 2 seconds of information in STM○Hypothesis: STM capacity is limited by length, not number of words○Design: Between-subjects■Two groups → each get a different set of words■Short words group: control group●This is because it replicates STM studies■Long words: experimental group○Dependent variable: number of words recalled●Testing STM○Immediate serial recall test■Repeating what you just heard■Serial recall: you have to repeat it in the correct order●The hypothesis was supported:
3b) Behaviroal techniques1)validity can reliability●Vaildity○Instrument claims what it claims to measure■Thermometer●Vaild for measuring temp●Invalid for measuring height●Reliability○Instrument gives consistent measutemnt for the same thing■Temperature, successive measurements●Not reliable: 45c, 23.4c, 10c●Fairly reibale: 40c, 39.9c, 39.5c2)Baisc Measurements of Performance●Latency○Difference in time between presentation of stimulus and initial response○Also known as Reaction time (RT)●Accuracy○Typically: Percentage of correct responses○Error rate: percentage of incorrect response3)Two types experimental design for behaviral techniques●1)Lexical decision○Partcipant given a letter string → is the string a word or not○Word: CAT, DOG, MOUSE○Not Word: NUST, PLINDER, DROGE●2)Priming○Implict memory process○Performace enhanced due to previous exposure■Subtypes●Masked priming: prime is presented to briefly participant cannotconcienosly perceive it●Unmasked prime: prime and the target one after anotherconsciously perceive the prime●3)Lexical Priming Study:
●List of primes or probes (targets)○3 condition:■Related Cat → Mouse■Unrelated Snow → Mouse■Nonword Tarf →Mouse●Priming effect:is observed when the participantsperformance is enhabnced in the related condition vs theUnrelated condition○Performance should not be enhanced in theNonword condition4)Why it matters?○Priming studies tell us abut mental representations of words○Accessing a word is easier when we recently saw a semantically associated word(sharing a meaning to other words that we have previously read)○Suggests we don’t store words randomly■Associated are linked in our mental lexicon5)Implicit learning●Language learning happens outside of conscious awareness●Artifical grammar learning (Reber, 1967)○Study list of letter strings that are “grammatical”○Test phase: indicate whether novel strings are grammatical or not●Two-alternative forced choice (2AFC)○Must answer yes or no○I don’t know is not an option
●What is consideredGramatical:○Coccurence of letter patterns■TT and XVS■Not TX or PVS○Such a task can be used to study how we implicity learn letter patterns orsequences in the words of the language6)Eyetracking●Meausres eye specific movements●Done in labs○But toby made more mobile versions of eye trackers●Used outside of psychology○Marketing…7) Eye testing and reading●Studied in many ways○a)Saccade■Quick movement of eyes while reading○b)fixation■Momentary gaze of eyes on a single location○c)regression■Movement of eyes goes back to a previously viewed location3c: Brain injury adn language:1) Basic Brain Anatomy:
●Focusing on the frontal and temporal lobes for this lecture2)Phineas Gage●Specific parts of the brain are associated with certain functions (localization)●Survived the accident but personality changed●The part of his brain affect: frontal lobe:3) Language and the brain●Mapping language in the brain by studying:○1)aphasia: Effect of brain damage on language○2)Brain imagining●Both methods seek to localize language function in the brain○Certain parts of the brain are responsible for certain functions4) Aphasia●Language disorder that us caused by brain damage5) How can a stroke occur and cause brain damage●Circle of Willis○Background information
●Provide collateral bloodflow between to the interior and postier cirrculations of the brain●Middle cerebral arties provide bloodflow to brocka and winickes area of the brain \○Sudden interruption = stroke6)Bronca and “Tan”●France, 1871 - patient presents witha major language disturbance○Has lost almost all ability to speak○Can say a few swear words, and the word “tan”●Patient appeared to have normal language comprehension○Could also use gestures to communicate●Autopsy:○Found patients brain had a large lesion to the left frontal lobe●Bronca’s region○This study and others found that found that:■Speech function was localized in the bronca’s area7)Implications of Bronca’s Aphasia●1)Suggested that speech could be impaired separate from other abilities○Patient had OK motor skills○Didn’t show serious cognitive impairment●2) Showed that a specific brain region could be causing these kinds of problems○Left hemisphere○Frontal lobe○Possibly just one part of the frontal lobe●Sample of someone with Bronca’s Aphasia Sample (Expressive Aphasia)●Eachresponseisincompleteandmissing words●Languagecomprehension is still in contact8)Wernicke’s Aphasia●In 1874, found that patients with intact left frontal lobes still had language problems●These patients deminstarted other types of language problems○Poor comprehension of spoken words
○They havenormal fluencybutspeech is nonsensical●This became known as Wernicke’s aphasia○Their brain lesions were in the posterior part of the frontal lobe●Example Wernicke’s Aphasia (Fluent Aphasia)\●Rambling about something irrelevant●They loose train ofn thought as they continue to speek●Language comprehension is impaired●Speech production is fluid9)Global Aphasia●Damgage to both Wenicke’s and Bronca’s area in the left hemisphere○Mixure of both deficits■Langauge production■Language comprehension●Case of Brother John○Lecours and Joanette (1980)■French monk who suffered from grand-mal seizures○Occasionally also had minor seizures that only affected language ability■Tranisent global aphasia (they come and go)○Note: some brain damaged patients have similar problems■Very severe language disturbance but OK on other kinds of tasks■In those patients it’s not transient → not always there10) Split brian patients:
●Contributed to how we understand language●When thecorpus collusm is damaged●Word shown the right side of screen = able to articulate, unable to draw○Processed on the left side of brain●Word shown on the left side of screen = unable to say, able to draw○Process on the right side of brain11) Language Lateraliztion●Langude is localzied to the left hemisphere●Evidence to show this○1) Molfese et al (1978) EEG■Adults show stringer EEGs over LH for speech versus nonspeech○2)Molfese et al (1985) EEG■Same findings for newborns○3)Pena et al (2003) fNIRS■Left hemisphere in newborns shows greater activation to forward speechvs backwards speech12) Regions for language are flexible:●Extent of “Bronca’s” area○Damage to the “bronca” area went far further than Broca had suspected■Broca was correct in localizing speech production but less so on howextensive that localization might be●Evidenve from ASL signers○Brian organization of ASL signers looks similar to speakers of sound-basedlanguages●Evidenve from brain injury recovery○Brain plasticity■The ability if the brain to learn new functions when there is a damage to abrain region that typically carried out that function3d)Neuroimaging techniques1) Brian imaging●Possible to measure brain activity in unimpaired subjects○Oversomes problems with aphasia●Based on the theory that localizing the source of neural activity helps us pinpoint wherea task i sbeing processed●Many different types of brain imagining
○Where:fMRI, fNIRS■Spatial sesistivty○When:EEG, MEG■Temporal sesistivty2)Imaging Cerebral Bloodflow●Neurons require oxygen and glucose to function○Provdided to them through the bloodstream●As neurons work harder, their uptake of glucose and O2 increaes●Theory: Meausres how hard a brain region is working by measuring the amount of O2 orglucose in that region○Greater levels = higher brain activity3)Functional Magnetic Resonane Imaging (fMRI)●MRI:○Uses magnet field (1.5-7 Tesla) and electromagnetic pulses to obtain imageswithin the body●fMRI:○Uses principles of MRI to measure blood oxygenation■The scanner can detect differences between oxygenated anddeoxygenated blood●Small changes in blood flow that occur when a certain part of brainis activity■BOLD singal●Blood●Oxygen●Level●Dependent○This allows reachers to compare oxygen levels in differentareas of the brain during active periods and in contrast inperiods of rest○Establishes correaltional relationship between a certain brain area and acognitive task○Images look like this:■Heat map of brain■Active = Red■inactive = Blue
4)Dual Stream Model●Based on dual-stream model for visual processing●The visual and auditory systems and how they correlated●Speech is processed though two streams○1)Ventral stream:■Interprets the meaning of incoming speech■Speech recognition■“What does it mean”○2)Dorsal stream■(Left hemisphere) linking the incoming speech signal with speech motorprograms■Speech perception■Sound to articulation■“How do you say it”●Evidence for Dual-Stream Model○Dorsal stream:■Nonword repetition■“How do you say it”○Ventral stream:■Sentence comprehension■“What does it mean”●The respective brain areas did light up\●Can they replace it with a real word task?5)White Matter Pathways●Diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI)○MRI technique○Tracks white matter tracts●Arcuate Fasciculus○White matter tract connecting temporal and frontal regions6)Eletroencephaolography (EEG)
●Records voltage fluctuations at the scalp●Event-related potential (ERP)○Waveform extract from EEG, signifies cognitive process●Shouldn’t move○Cloud the signals that the test is capturing■ERP to Semantic Violoation●N400:Kutas and Hillyard, 1980)■N is negative■400 = 400 milsections■Signiface:found that when participant read asurprising sentence inpeak brain activity for 400milliseconds
●See ap600 effectwhen there is asentence with some surprising semantic7)Functional Near Infrared Spectrocopy (fNIRS)●Measures changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated bloowflow in the cortex○Can tell youwhich region is active during a particular task●Uses near-infrared light●Much cheaper than a fMRI●Allows for more flexibility → good for young children that move around a lot8)Summary comparing Brain Imaging TechnologyWeek 4:4a Basics of Sound and Hearing1) The Physical Properties of Sound●a)The nature of sound waves○Spech at its most basic form is just a series of sounds○Sound travels as waves○The pitch and volume of sound waves are determined by:■a)Frequnecy (pitich)●Low frequency= fewer cycles per second
●High frequency= more cycles per secomnd○Meaured in Hz(cycles per second)○Higher frequencies = higher pitch■b)Amplitiude (volume)●Changing the amplitude of a sound wave changes it’s volume●Greater amplitude = louder sound●Measured in Db (decibals)2) Anatomy of the auditory system●Anatomy of the ear:●Sounds travel to our ears then get converted into neural signals so we canunderstand them○The process:■A)Tympanic Membrane (Eardrum)●Sound hits the eardrum than virbates starting a chairreaction■B) Vibrations turn into pressure waves■c)Pressure waves are then sent to the inner ear●Travel from one end to the Cochlea to the other end3) Tonotopic Organization●Cochlea
○Base of the Cochlearesponds to high frequencies●Apex of Cochlea○Respons to low frequencies○Low frequencies travel further which allow them to interact with the apex Cochlea●Brain○Primary auditory cortex = blue○Secondary auditory cortex = red○Chain of sound waves continue■Auditory nerve → brain●This than processes the signal and makes sense of it4)The Acoustics of Speech●Speech waveforms are very complex●Can tell us about the VOT (Voice Onset Time)○X axis = time○Y axis = amplitude
●5)Spectrogram●Can anayze the acoustic properties of signals by looking at a spectrogram●Way to visualize speech signals○X axis = time○Y axis = frequency○Colour intensity = amplitude■Darker colors =higher amp■Brighter colors =lower amp●Can be visulaized throught black and white6) Formants and Resonance of Spectrograms●Formants○Speech is made up ofareas fo concentrated acoustic energycalled formants
●Resonance○Formants results from resonance in the human vocal tract○Thetransfer of sounds produced by the vocal fold produced by the vocaltract7) Interpreting Spectrogram●Same two seconds of speech○Lower amp = white○Higher amp = dark8)Periodic and Aperiodic Sounds
●a)Periodic = 0-0.1 seconds○Vertical stripes that have regular space between them■Result of phonation = vibration of the vocal folds●b) Noise = 0.2 seconds○The vertical stripes are less spaced○Also known as aperiodic sound○Frigatives●c)Transient = 5.5-.6 secs○Happens briefly, then stops○●d) Silence○In red dotted lines = silence4b Decoding the Problem1) The lack of Invariance●There isn’t always a consistent acoustic cue for a given phoneme○Effects of context:phonemes vary depending on what proceeds or follows■Known as coarticulation2)Perceptual Invariance●The ability to perceive sounds that have highly variable acoustic manifestationsas instances of the same sound category
○K sound in :cat and cot3)Consant voicing:●Two types:○a)Voiced = vocal cord vibration○b)Voiceless = no vocal cord vibration●Consonant pairs = similar articulation difference in voicing4)Acoustic Cues to Speech●Voice Onset Time (VOT)○The lag between the release of a (stop/plosive) consonant and the start of avowel●release of a consonantal blockage (like the burst of air in pronouncing the letter"p") and the onset of vocal cord vibrations for the following vowel sound○Voiced consonants (like "b" in "bear") have a short VOT because the vocalcords begin to vibrate almost immediately after the consonant is released.○Voiceless consonants (like "p" in "peart") have a longer VOT because thereis a noticeable delay before the vocal cords start to vibrate after theconsonant release.
●Types of VOT○Zero■English○Postive■English○Negative■French5) study#1 Categorical Perception●Study by: Liberman and colleagues (1950s-1960s)○Manipulated the VOT of the syllable “ba” → “pa”●VOT was 0 - 20s = sounded like ba●VOT was 30-50ms = and sounded like pa●Should see a gradual decrease in this mistake?○Nope, a very drastic decrease?●Conclusions:○Evidence for Categorical Perception
6)Study#2: Are phonemes always perceived categorically?●Experiment 5 = same as Liberman and colleagues○Identifying a syllable (Phonneme) ba and pa●Experiment 2 = Have participants listen to actual words (beach and peach) = lexical○Then, pick an image that represents the word they just heard■Better for two reasons●1)Picking words that have actual meaning○Instead of meaningless sounds●Conclusions:○Participants showed greater categorical perception of speech for Lexical ID6)Ganong Effect●AKA “lexical effect” in speech perception○Stimuli varied on VOT continuum○listeners hear a sound that could be interpreted as either of two phonemes, theirinterpretation will bebiased towardthephoneme that creates a real wordrather than a non-word○Word at one end, nonword at the other■doot→TOOT■DASH → tash7)Phonemic restoration effect●Despite noise (coughing, background music, object sounds) we can stillunderstand what is said○Brain anticipates a fluid and complete sentence■Fills in missing phonemic sound
■An example of the phonemic restoration effect occurs when a phoneme ina word is replaced by a cough or another noise, yet listeners still reporthearing the intended word in its entirety.4c Development of speech perception1) High Amplitude Sucking (HAS) procedure●Non-nutritive sucking procedure●Infants hear a sample of speech each time they suck on their pacifier○Sucking rate tells us how interested the baby is●An infant is habituated to sample x, then given sample y○Habituated Given the same sample over and over again■If sucking rate increases = the baby can discriminate sample x fromsample y2) HAS Methodology●Sucking a pacifier = perceiving interesting/novel stimuli●Sucking ratereduces as they habituate●Increases again if the stimuli changes3)Sensitivity to Phoneme Categories●Babiescan discriminate speech soundsvery early in life○2-3 months●Eimas (1975) tested babies responses to “ba” and “pa”○Infants 1-4 monthsare very good at distinguishing these phonemes
4)Native vs Nonative Phonemes●Adults = very good at discriminating native contrasts●Adults = very bad at discriminating against non-native contrasts●What about infants?○Good atdiscriminatingphonemes from Hindi “d” vs “ special “d”■Adults cannot do this5)The study distinguishing native vs non-native phonemes (babys):Head Turn PreferenceProcedure●Infants look longer at stimuli they are interested in○1)Novelty preference = look longer at novel stimuli■2)Familiarity preference = Look longer at familiar stimuli●Researchers are looking to find a discrimination between the noveland familiar items●The test is well suited for infants because:○1) Limited attention demands○2) Limited motor demands○3) No communication demands●Cross-Linguistic Perception:●The ability to distinguish between non-native phones only occurs very early inhindi life●Different non-naitve phonemes are “lost” at 8-14 months4d)Theories of Speech Perception1)McGurk Effect●Speech is being integrated using different types of information○Monitoring both sounds and visual information●Conflicting information○Leads to misperception○Different types of information visual and auditory are in conflict■We tend to rely on the visual information
2)The Motor Theory of Speech●The perception of speech sounds involves accessing representations of the articulatorygestures that are required to make those speech sounds○mechanisms responsible for speech production are closely linked to thoseused in speech perception○Modular theory:There is a dedicated speech processor in our heads■“Speech is special”■Speech module is not used for other kinds of sounds●Modularity:○Cognitive mechanisms of speech perception are different from those ofother types of sounds (Music)3)Why a “Motor” Theory●We perceive speech by decomposing it into speech commands○The same commands used for the production of speech●Use motor skills to:○a)Move our articulartors■Speech production○b)Perceive how others have moved their articulators■When we hear someone speek4)Neuroimaging evidence for the Motor Theory:●Same activation patterns5) Categorical Perception and the Motor Theory●Categorical Perception○The sounds “ba” and “pa” are discrete either one or the other●Categorical perception can be explained by Motor Theory○Can be explained by the use of distinct motor circuits to produce different sounds6) The McGurk Effect and the Motor Theory●The Motor Theory can also explain the McGurk Effect○Integrating auditory and visual information■Visual information = motor codes●Movements of different part of mouths to produce different sounds
○Speech system also considers what sound you might hear of you copied thevisual cue○Conflicting visuo-motor and acoustic information■Motor information wins7)Problems with the Motor TheoryCan explain:Categorical perception → but is not that special●Not specific to speech○We perceive lots of things categorically●Not human-specific → Motor Theory suggests it is only human specific○Speech percetipon is only an ability humans have■Evidenence Categorical perception in Chinchillas●Have the ability to categorize despite not having the ability tospeak●Other explanations of the McGurk effect?8)General Auditory Framework●Speech is perceived in the same way as other auditory information●Massaro(1979): fuzzy logic model of speech perception○We have fuzzy categories■In semantic categories■In speech●Prototype Theory○Some category members are better than others■Easier to Categorize:●ROBIN = bird than PENGUIN = bird●We do the same thing when we perceive speech9)GAF Explanation of the Mcgurk Effect●Multimodal integration●Mind weighs evidence and chooses a winner●Auditory information is more likely to be wrong○Auditory = frequent mis-preception○Visual = highly reliable■So, go with visual information10) The Two Core Theories in Speech Perception
Week 5:5a)Vocal Tract and Sounds of English1)Place of Articulation (7) (The What)●Lip and Teeth(3)●a)Bilabial○Produced by bringing upper and lower lips together■Sounds: pay, bay, may●b)Labiodental○Produced by bringing lower and upper lip against teeth■Sounds: few, view●c)Interdental○Produced by protruding tongue between upper and lower teeth■Sounds: the, thigh, thy●Front-Back of mouth (d-g)●d) Alveolar○Produced by pressing tip of tongue against alveolar ridge■Sounds: new, dew, two, zoo, sue●e)Postalveolar○Produced by pressing blade of tongue against region between alveolar ridge andhard pa;ate■Sounds: gin, chin, shin, also zh sound in version
●f)Velar○Produced by pressing root of tongue against soft palate■Sounds: goo, coo, ng sound in sing●g)Glottal○Produced by constricting vocal folds■Sounds: hay, middle sounds in uh-oh, uhn-uhn2) Manner of articulation (The How)●Degree to which airflow is obstructed in production of consonants○a) Plosive(stop)■blocking then releasing airflow in oral cavity●Sounds: bat, pat, dew, two, gill, kill○b) Nasal■blocking oral cavity, releasing airflow through nasal cavity●Sounds: Meet, neat○c)Fricative■Restricting oral cavity to create friction●Sounds: View, few, thy, thigh, zoo, sue○d) Affricative■Produced by momentarily blocking airflow and then releasing it throughtight constriction●Sounds: gin, chin○e) Approximant■Produced by diverting airflow without contricting it●Sounds: yay, way, ray, lay3)English consonants IPA Chart●This chart provides○One letter for each distinctive sound●Commonly used in bilingual dictionaries that use english
4) Where in your mouth english letters are produced:5)Vocing●Delay between release of a stop and onset of the vocal vibration6)How Are Vowel Sounds Produced●a)jaws○Continuim from low (open) to high closed●b) Lips
○Unrounded with front vowels (in English)○Rounded with back vowels■Many langues use tongue rounding as separate from tongue position●c)Tongue○Continuum from front to back5b) Speech Errors1) Producing Fluent Speech●Speech is produced a rapid rate○Up to 12 phonemes per second●Requires the coordination of (3):○a)Respiration○b) Vocal control(larynx)○c) Vocal articulators (tongue, jaw, velum)●People produce lots of errors as they speak○She sells sea shells by the sea○Friendly Franck flips fine flapjacks2) Is Speech Production Modular●Do other cognitive abilities influence it?●Things like working memory and attention affect how effectively we can speak○Example: Phonological loop maintains the utterance as we prepare to use it■Say: cup, ball, bat●Can repeat in same order○Concurrent tasks affect speech production3) Speech production mechanisms●Speech is produced on-line, automatically○We can plan several words/phases ahead
○We coordinate it so everything is produced at exactly the right time■Thing or event you want to articulate●Idea of what you want to day but don’t know exactly what to say●Hesitations: failing to adequately plan ahead (disfluencies)○Ummm uhhhhh○Not enough time to get things ready○Words are momentarily inaccessible○Distraction, divided■Can help the listen to give them more time for listeners tounderstand■Reduced n400 when there is disfluencuy in speech compared to cleanspeech●Understand more clearly what is said when there is hesitations4)Speech production and language●What does speech production tells us about the natue language?●Historically, lots of interest in speech errors○a)Wundunt, Lashley (early 1900s)■Speech errors like“leading list” for”reading list”●Speech is centrally planned○b)Freud (1901): Used to interpret what people really meant■Freudain slips●“Fast passion” for “past fashion”■Interested in the internal thoughts of the unconscious5)Studying Errors●General logic: study speech production by looking ar what can go wrong○Fromkin (1970s-2000) slips of the tongue■“Provide us with a window into linguistic processes”○Record thousands od speech errors then grouped them6) Types of speech errors
●Occur at:○1) Word level■a)Substitutions●Nationalness and naturalness■b)Blends●Merging of two words■c) Exchanges●Switching the order of words○2)Morpheme level■a) Exchanges (spoonerisms)●Nerve of a vergeous breakdown●Verge of a nervous breakdown (n and v)○3) Sound level■a)Anticipation●Yew York → New York■b)Preservations●Sound of the first letter carries over to the next word○Middle minger■c)Exchanges (spoonerisms)■d) Deletions●Seeking → speaking■e)Additions●Real world → Real word7)Exchanges (Spoonerisms)●Swap with the first letter of a word with another○Examples■a) We’ll have the hags flung out●Flags hung out■b) You’ve tasted the whole worm●Wasted the whole term■c)Fighting a lair●Lighting a fire■d) Our queer old dean●Dear old queen
8) Speech Error Targets●Errors are analyzed with respect to the level at which they occur○Syntactic, morphemic, phonemic●Rarely do we errors between categories○Subsitiuting a word (morpheme) for a phoneme■Can occur●That child is looking to be spaddled9) Phonemic Errors●Errors a restricted to due to3 factors○1) Constant/vowel constraint■Very rarely does a consonant get swapped with a vowel○2) Phonotactic constraint■Language-specific constraints that determine how the sounds of a givenlanguage may be combined to form words or syllables●Errors tends to be legal words○Chlam chop (lamp chop)○3) Positional constraint■Substitution of phonemes within the same portion of the syllable●Big rat → rig bat●Top dog → tog dog10) Inducing Phoneme Errors - The SLIP Technique●Subjects say “barn door” 30% of the time11) Lexical Bias Effect
●Subjects only said “bart dord” 10% of the time●Errors are likely to result in real words instead of non-words12) Sign Errors in ASL●Signer must produccce competing hand shapes in sequence●Similar to the anticipation error○Singer anticipates two fingers for “see” and mistakenly usedtwo fingers for“must13)Bound Morphemes●Word exchange errors often don’t affect inflectional morphemes○I hoped he would like you○Iiked he would hope you○Nerve of a vergeous breakdown●Known as stranding errors○Suffixes semm to stay put14) Syntactic level errors●Syntactic category rule○Noun → Noun○Verb → Verb■I parked the truck *car* in the yard●Occurs frequently■I trucked the park in the yard5c) Explaining Speech Errors1) Levels of Speech Production
●Something can go wrong at any of these levels2)Syllable structure●How do account for the systematic nature of phonemic errors?●Syllables are organized hierarchically○Onsets, rhymes, codas●Assembling a words involves assigning phonemes to the hierarchy●Error that tend to occur○Onset to onset■Battle bamage (battle damage)○Coda to coda■Get its (get it)○Rhyme to rhyme■Hunk of jeep (heap of junk)●Errors that never occur○Onset-nucleus■Stop bip (big stop)3) How Errors Occur●As we produce speech we move from one level or organiztion to the next●Each step involves assembling units into a sequence●Hiearchical organization: each unit has a “slot: that it tends to fit into○Errors occur when a unit fits into the wrong slot4) Phonological Errors●Syllable frame is used to assemble phonemes into words (morphemes)
●Each phoneme is assigned a position]●Errors occur when phoneme from one word frame is mistakenly placed in another word’sframe●Explains:○The C/V constraint○The positional constraint○The phonotactic constraint5)Bidirectional Activation●This can help explain the lexical bais effect●Can help explain why errors tend to be words and not nonsense words5d)Development of Expressive Phonogy1) Early Speech Production: Babbling●Before their first words, babies produce nonsensical speech (phonation or cooing)○6-9 months: babbling begins■Reduplicatied babbling■Bbabababa○10-12 months■Variegated babbling■Badebadebade2) is babbling innate●Babbling appears universal●Deaf babies also produce oral babble○Tyopically later on○Mostly redulicated babbling3) Sign Langugae Babbling●Babies of signers produce “sign” babbling○Meaningless gestures
○Similar to reduplicated/varigated; similar to age of onset■Whether the child is deaf or not)4) Social Aspects of Babbling●Caregivers responds to babbling as if it were a conversation○Imitate babbling○Infants use this feedback●Object-direct vocalization○Babbling uttered as infants encounter novel objects○Caregivers respond with the name for the object that resembles the babble○Indicates infant’s heightened attention, readiness to learn.5)Production Errors●Children learn to produce some phoneme contrasts before others○Producing d and t as d●Can’t yet produce the correct form but can perceive the incorrect form●Can’t differentiate s (sun) and (she)●Simplify phonological structure of words○Reducing consonant clusters■Truck = tuck■Blue = booProduction of voice and speech●What voice?○An unique as finger print○Crying and laughing●What is speech○Expression○Identifiable sounds●How we breathe○1)Air in lungs■Diaphram contracts and expands lifting rib cage filling lungs with air○2)Breathe out■Carbon dioxide●How do we produce voice○Generated through■Vocal folds●2 bands of tissue positioned opposite eachother in the larynx■Process●Air flow from lung → pressure increases opening vocal folds → airis forced throgh narrow opening (Glottis)●Glottis○opens for breathing○Narrow for voice production 1) Vocal folds
●How we produce speech○Precisly coordinated muscle actions in:■Head■Throat■Chest=■Mouth■Nasal Cavity■AdomenDefining the Candain Accent1) Similarities●Don’t make difference between “cot” and “caught”2) Differences●a)Candain rasing○“How” and “Cow”○The quality of raised vowel●b)Fronting of /ahr/●c) Merger of /e/ and /ae/ Before /r/●d) Allophones of /ae/○/aeg/ and /aen/3) Enclaves of Canadian English●See this in heavy british settlements●See this segregation of groups4)American Misconcetions●Use of word “eh”○Many people actually do not use it●Rasing Candain○Difference in spelling cannot be used in English○Out and About○Oot and About○Oat and Aboat5) Most influential●Canadain people that moved west (people from ontario)○Impacted they homogeneity of englishSpeech Errors ArticleIntroduction to Speech Errors: Speech errors are defined as mismatches betweenintended and actual spoken language, not including hesitations. These errors are
common in both non-brain-damaged speakers and those with brain damage,providing insights into language production and its relationship with the brain.Classification of Speech Errors: Errors are categorized based on the linguisticunits involved (phrases, words, morphemes, phonemes, features) and themechanisms that cause them (anticipations, perseverations, exchanges,substitutions, blends). Special attention is given to spoonerisms andmalapropisms.Methodology of Speech Error Collection: Two primary methods are discussed:naturalistic observation, which allows for a comprehensive corpus but is subjectto bias, and laboratory-based induction, which is more controlled but limited inscope.Interpretation of Speech Errors: Speech errors inform about the stages of speechproduction: conceptualization, formulation (including syntactic planning andlexicalization), and execution. Errors demonstrate constraints related to linguisticunits and levels of processing, suggesting distinct vocabularies for content andfunction words.Models of Speech Production: The article discusses the Fromkin-Garrett model,which differentiates between functional and positional levels of syntacticplanning and separates syntactic planning from lexical retrieval. It also addressesthe limitations of strictly serial models of speech production, suggestingevidence for parallel processing.Lexical Access: Lexicalization is described as a two-stage process, moving fromsemantic levels to phonological encoding. This section discusses evidencesupporting this model and addresses some dissenting views.Feedback in Speech Production: The article explores interactive models thatincorporate feedback between lexical and phonological levels, accounting forphenomena like lexical bias and similarity effects in speech errors.Tip-of-the-Tongue (TOT) State: TOTs are characterized as failures of lexicalaccess, with partial information about the target word sometimes retrievable.Theories explaining TOTs include the partial activation hypothesis and theblocking hypothesis.
Freudian Slips: The article touches on Freud's interpretation of slips of the tongueas revealing repressed thoughts, while also noting that most speech errors canbe explained by cognitive mechanisms without invoking complex motivationalsystems.