Effects of linguistic experience on speech perception

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目的长期目标是了解口语处理-特别是言语感知-在语言环境中。语音信号具有高度的熟悉性，在人类的经验中具有独特性，在日常生活中具有重要的现实意义。因此，人们开发出专门针对语音的优化处理策略也就不足为奇了。在这个项目中，我们研究如何调整过程可能是敏感的语言结构。跨语言的口语研究很重要，因为如果没有它，我们就有可能得出结论，认为一种语言（甚至方言）中的现象对其他语言的使用者来说是规范的。这种对“正常”口语处理的狭隘理解可能会对多元化社会中的临床言语和听力实践产生负面影响。将进行三方面的研究。第一个涉及到被称为协同发音补偿的感知现象。该研究旨在确定语言知识对这一过程的影响程度，使用英语和法语说话者的行为言语感知实验（他们对高前元音有不同的母语经验，如[y]）。第二组实验，与英语，荷兰语和德语的发言者探讨的作用段，音节和词频在语音感知。这里的目的也是探索语言知识对言语感知的影响-特别是暴露频率改变感知的可能性。最后一组实验考察了语音变异的语言特定模式对感知的影响。该研究项目的总体目标是更多地了解一个人的语言经验如何塑造感知能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term objective of the project is to understand spoken language processing - particularly speech perception - in linguistic context. Speech signals are unique in human experience because they are highly familiar, and have great practical significance in daily life. Therefore, it is not too surprising to find that people develop optimized processing strategies tuned specifically for speech. In this project, we study how this tuning process may be sensitive to linguistic structure. Cross-linguistic spoken language research is important because without it we are in danger of concluding that the phenomena found in one language (or even dialect) are somehow normative for speakers of other languages. Such a narrow understanding of 'normal' spoken language processing is likely to have a negative impact on clinical speech and hearing practice in a pluralistic society. Three lines of research will be pursued. The first involves the perceptual phenomenon called compensation for coarticulation. The research is designed to determine the extent to which linguistic knowledge impacts this process, using behavioral speech perception experiments with speakers of English and French (who have different native-language experience with high front vowels like [y]). The second set of experiments, with English, Dutch, and German speakers explores the role of segment, syllable, and word frequencies in speech perception. The aim here is also to explore the impact of linguistic knowledge on speech perception - particularly the possibility that frequency of exposure alters perception. The final set of experiments examines the impact of language-specific patterns of phonetic variability on perception. The overarching aim of the research project is to learn more about how one's linguistic experience shapes perceptual abilities.