Speed-difficulty trade-off in speech: Chinese versus English.
Speed-difficulty trade-off in speech: Chinese versus English.
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s00221-011-2664-5
复制
发表时间：
2011-06
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Mikaelian, Irina L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Latash, Mark L.;Sun, Yao;Latash, Elizaveta M.;Mikaelian, Irina L.
本研究继续对先前描述的图像描述任务中的速度-难度权衡进行了调查。特别是，我们测试了一个假设，即普通话和美式英语在语音时间和难度指数（ID）之间表现出相似的对数依赖关系，而它们在描述简单图片所需的时间上存在显著差异，这种差异在描述更复杂的图片时增加，并且与使用的音节数量的比例差异有关。受试者（8名说汉语的人和8名说英语的人）成对进行测试。一个被试（说话者）描述简单的图片，而另一个被试（表演者）试图用一组物体尽可能快地根据口头描述再现图片。说汉语的人开始说话的速度明显快于说英语的人。所有被试的言语时间均与ln（ID）呈线性关系，但英语被试的回归系数显著高于汉语被试。中国参与者的错误率略低（不显著）。中国组也表现出较短的言语开始和动作开始之间的延迟，较短的动作时间，较短的整体表演时间。音节数随ID的增加而增加，汉语使用者使用的音节数明显减少。两组的语速相当，约为3个音节/秒；对于更复杂的图片（更高的ID），它会下降。当被要求在不说话的情况下复制相同的图片时，移动时间与ln（ID）成线性比例；中国表演者比英国表演者慢。我们的结论是，自然语言表现出一种类似于菲茨定律的速度-难度权衡；运动和语言产生的权衡可能源于认知水平。中国选手的时间优势不是来自简单的图片和汉字的相似，也不是来自更马虎的表演。它与使用更少的音节来传递相同的信息有关。我们认为，自然语言的不同之处在于信息密度，即由给定数量的音节所传递的信息量。
This study continues the investigation of the previously described speed-difficulty trade-off in picture description tasks. In particular, we tested a hypothesis that the Mandarin Chinese and American English are similar in showing logarithmic dependences between speech time and index of difficulty (ID), while they differ significantly in the amount of time needed to describe simple pictures, this difference increases for more complex pictures, and it is associated with a proportional difference in the number of syllables used. Subjects (eight Chinese speakers and eight English speakers) were tested in pairs. One subject (the Speaker) described simple pictures, while the other subject (the Performer) tried to reproduce the pictures based on the verbal description as quickly as possible with a set of objects. The Chinese speakers initiated speech production significantly faster than the English speakers. Speech time scaled linearly with ln(ID) in all subjects, but the regression coefficient was significantly higher in the English speakers as compared with the Chinese speakers. The number of errors was somewhat lower in the Chinese participants (not significantly). The Chinese pairs also showed a shorter delay between the initiation of speech and initiation of action by the Performer, shorter movement time by the Performer, and shorter overall performance time. The number of syllables scaled with ID, and the Chinese speakers used significantly smaller numbers of syllables. Speech rate was comparable between the two groups, about 3 syllables/s; it dropped for more complex pictures (higher ID). When asked to reproduce the same pictures without speaking, movement time scaled linearly with ln(ID); the Chinese performers were slower than the English performers. We conclude that natural languages show a speed-difficulty trade-off similar to Fitts’ law; the trade-offs in movement and speech production are likely to originate at a cognitive level. The time advantage of the Chinese participants originates not from similarity of the simple pictures and Chinese written characters and not from more sloppy performance. It is linked to using fewer syllables to transmit the same information. We suggest that natural languages may differ by informational density defined as the amount of information transmitted by a given number of syllables.
登录
查看更多内容
影响因子：
1.9
作者：
Byrd, D;Saltzman, E
通讯作者：
Saltzman, E
影响因子：
1.8
作者：
Lee, Chao-Yang
通讯作者：
Lee, Chao-Yang
影响因子：
3.4
作者：
Smith, M;Wheeldon, L
通讯作者：
Wheeldon, L
影响因子：
2.6
作者：
Valaki, CE;Maestu, F;Papanicolaou, AC
通讯作者：
Papanicolaou, AC
影响因子：
1.1
作者：
Latash, Mark L.;Mikaelian, Irina L.
通讯作者：
Mikaelian, Irina L.