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Language Perception.

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Presentation on theme: "Language Perception."— Presentation transcript:

1 Language Perception

2 Signed versus spoken languages
But first, a digression Signed versus spoken languages Similarities Both processed by same brain regions Both use parameters/feature Spoken language phonology: place of articulation, voicing, manner Signed language “phonology”: hand shape (19), place of articulation (12), movement (24) in ASL

3 Parameters in ASL Hand configuration

4 Parameters in ASL Place of articulation

5 Parameters in ASL Movement

6 ASL has morphology first person-movement toward self
First and second person first person-movement toward self second person-movement toward other person

7 ASL has morphology first person-movement toward self
First and second person first person-movement toward self give me second person-movement toward other person give you Reciprocity pinched them versus pinched each other each other is movement of sign back and forth across body

8 ASL has morphology

9 Signed versus spoken languages
But first, a digression Signed versus spoken languages Similarities Both processed by same brain regions Both use parameters/feature Both have dialects Both change over time There are slips of the tongue and hand

10 Differences between spoken and signed languages
Sounds of words are arbitrary (except onomatopoeia) *larger words for larger things *words sound like things Many signs are iconic dog Jesus think

11 Speech Perception Linguists (some) Language processing is different from other cognitive skills There is a Language Acquisition Device We are born with it

12 Speech Perception Linguists (some) Language processing is different from other cognitive skills There is a Language Acquisition Device We are born with it Psychologists (and psycholinguists) Language processing is no different that other cognitive skills

13 Speech Perception One speech sound is not the same everywhere
Lack of invariance One speech sound is not the same everywhere Notice the formant differences in the vowels Physically different, yet perceived as the same

14 Speech Perception One speech sound is not the same everywhere
Lack of invariance One speech sound is not the same everywhere Notice the formant differences in the vowels Physically different, yet perceived as the same Neighboring sounds affect one sound Different voices affect one sound Different speech rates affect one sound Levels of background noise change sound

15 Speech Perception One speech sound is not the same everywhere
Lack of invariance One speech sound is not the same everywhere Stops are perceived by their influence on the vowel's formants, yet this influence varies by vowel (see [d])

16 Speech Perception One speech sound is not the same everywhere
Lack of invariance One speech sound is not the same everywhere How can we distinguish sounds (and the meaning they convey) if there is no one-to-one invariant feature that lets us know? So, maybe speech is different from other cognitive processes

17 Speech Perception Categorical perception We can see small differences in light, color, tone, sound, smells. These are continuous When it comes to perception perception is categorical (ta da experiment)

18 Speech Perception Discrimination Task Experiment'
Categorical perception Discrimination Task Experiment' People hear three sounds. One of the first two is identical to the third. They are asked which of the first two matches the third. Results are similar to ta da study for speech sounds- categorical perception

19 Speech Perception Discrimination Task Experiment
Categorical perception Discrimination Task Experiment People hear three sounds. One of the first two is identical to the third. They are asked which of the first two matches the third. Results are similar to ta da study for speech sounds- categorical perception For non-speech sounds the results are continuous

20 Discrimination Task Experiment
3 kinds of synthesized sounds 1 Speech-like with two formants. Second formant varied. Difference between ba, ga is second formant 2 Only second formant transition varied. Sound like chirps 3 Second formant transition varied plus steady formant. Sounds like bleat 4 all of these backwards

21 Discrimination Task Experiment
Subjects heard three sound files. Two were identical and one different. They chose which one was different.

22 Discrimination Task Experiment
Results 1 Speech-like with two formants had categorical perception. 2 Only second formant transition varied had continuous perception 3 Second formant transition varied plus steady formant had continuous perception 4 all of these backwards had continuous perception

23 Discrimination Task Experiment
Results 1 Speech-like with two formants had categorical perception. 2 Only second formant transition varied had continuous perception 3 Second formant transition varied plus steady formant had continuous perception 4 all of these backwards had continuous perception So, speech perception (categorical) is different from other sound perception (continuous)

24 Discrimination Task Experiment
Results 1 Speech-like with two formants had categorical perception. 2 Only second formant transition varied had continuous perception 3 Second formant transition varied plus steady formant had continuous perception 4 all of these backwards had continuous perception So, speech perception (categorical) is different from other sound perception (continuous) But, other experiments show vowel perception is continuous, probably because they are very long and transitions due to consonants are small

25 Discrimination Task Experiment
Half of simulated speech signal to each ear. Second format transitions varied

26 Discrimination Task Experiment
When told to focus on chirp perception was continuous When told to focus on speech perception was categorical

27 Motor Theory of Perception
Speech comprehension is carried out through knowledge of motor skills used to pronounce speech

28 Motor Theory of Perception
Speech comprehension is carried out through knowledge of motor skills used to pronounce speech Lack of invariance problem-no clear acoustic relationship between acoustics and perception. To much variation in acoustic signal

29 Motor Theory of Perception
Speech comprehension is carried out through knowledge of motor skills used to pronounce speech Lack of invariance problem-no clear acoustic relationship between acoustics and perception. To much variation in acoustic signal Motor skills to produce sounds may be more clear predictors used to perceive sounds

30 Motor Theory of Perception
Speech comprehension is carried out through knowledge of motor skills used to pronounce speech Lack of invariance problem-no clear acoustic relationship between acoustics and perception. To much variation in acoustic signal Motor skills to produce sounds may be more clear predictors used to perceive sounds Claims production and comprehension are part of same skill, not separate

31 Motor Theory of Perception
Evidence McGurk effect In L2 acquisition people who practice pronunciation get better at perception

32 Motor Theory of Perception
Evidence McGurk effect In L2 acquisition people who practice pronunciation get better at perception Counterevidence People can't perceive allophonic variation, but they produce it without a problem

33 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Stress Listen to sentence and press button when you hear [b] Reaction faster in stressed syllables

34 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Stress Listen to sentence and press button when you hear [b] Reaction faster in stressed syllables Listen to list of words and press button when you hear [b] No difference between stressed and unstressed syllables

35 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Stress Listen to sentence and press button when you hear [b] Reaction faster in stressed syllables Listen to list of words and press button when you hear [b] No difference between stressed and unstressed syllables So, stress gives information that helps with sentence comprehension

36 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Speech rate Difference between da and ta is VOT Is that difference absolute? Does it change with speech rate?

37 da ta

38

39 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Speech rate Difference between da and ta is VOT Is that difference absolute? Does it change with speech rate? With identical VOT, da is heard in normal speech, but ta in faster rate

40 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Speech rate Difference between da and ta is VOT Is that difference absolute? Does it change with speech rate? With identical VOT, da is heard in normal speech, but ta in faster rate We adapt our perception to speech rate

41 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Tone Is difference between high and low tone absolute?

42 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Tone Is difference between high and low tone absolute? No, women's highs are higher than men's highs.

43 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Tone Is difference between high and low tone absolute? No, women's highs are higher than men's highs. A person faking a higher or lower voice has high tones that are different People, like the Borg, adapt

44 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Context only 50% of words taken from conversation understood in isolation Top down processing

45 What factors help us understand continuous speech
Context only 50% of words taken from conversation understood in isolation Top down processing Phoneme restoration It was found tha the *eel was on the axle. It was found that the *eel was on the shoe. It was found that the *eel was on the orange.

46 Gating Experiment [s] [su] [sun] People hear words presented in parts
At each point they are asked to guess word People correctly guess words before they hear all of the word E.g. soon is heard before they hear final nasal Because similar words like suit, say, sued, soup are eliminated as candidates Top down processing


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