This research proposal is concerned with semantic and pragmatic effects in speech production. The specific objective is to understand how speech is modified given the speaker's tacit knowledge of the interplay between speaker and listener and/or given higher levels of linguistic information. Thus, this research will examine two alternative ways in which articulation may be modified: (1) on the basis of higher level decision processes arising from the speaker's assessment of the pragmatic situation and (2) modified on the basis of facilitory and inhibitory effects arising from the structure and organization of the linguistic system. In an attempt to understand how these cognitive factors affect the articulation of spoken words, two basic experimental techniques will be used: (1) semantic priming and (2) the presence or absence of an overt listener. In addition, these basic techniques will be used to examine word production using single word prime-target pairs and words produced in passages. Production experiments will involve recording subjects, speech. Acoustic measurements of duration and pitch will be made and reaction time to onset of articulation will serve as the dependent variables. Finally, perceptual experiments will be run in an attempt to assess the degree to which any production differences aid in listeners, perception of spoken words. The perception experiments will use the perceptual identification and speeded classification tasks. The overarching aim of this research is to understand modifications in articulation that arise from the pragmatic situation and/or from semantically biasing information, two cognitive factors that have not been fully addressed with respect to current models of speech production.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29)
Project #
5R29DC000957-04
Application #
2126162
Study Section
Sensory Disorders and Language Study Section (CMS)
Project Start
1992-06-01
Project End
1997-05-31
Budget Start
1995-06-01
Budget End
1996-05-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
State University of New York at Buffalo
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
038633251
City
Buffalo
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14260
Charles-Luce, J; Dressler, K M; Ragonese, E (1999) Effects of semantic predictability on children's preservation of a phonemic voice contrast. J Child Lang 26:505-30
Charles-Luce, J (1997) Cognitive factors involved in preserving a phonemic contrast. Lang Speech 40 ( Pt 3):229-48
Vitevitch, M S; Luce, P A; Charles-Luce, J et al. (1997) Phonotactics and syllable stress: implications for the processing of spoken nonsense words. Lang Speech 40 ( Pt 1):47-62
Myers, J; Jusczyk, P W; Kemler Nelson, D G et al. (1996) Infants' sensitivity to word boundaries in fluent speech. J Child Lang 23:1-30
Charles-Luce, J; Luce, P A (1995) An examination of similarity neighbourhoods in young children's receptive vocabularies. J Child Lang 22:727-35