A Systematic Examination of How a Speaker's Linguistic and Paralinguistic Cues Affect Children's and Adults' Learning and Memory

系统检查说话者的语言和副语言线索如何影响儿童和成人的学习和记忆

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-04067
• 负责人: Birch, Susan
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=682042
• 关键词: Systematic; Examination; How; Speaker; Linguistic

Summary*** Our lives involve learning on a regular basis. From learning new words to learning complex scientific principles, humans routinely rely on others to provide information. Unfortunately, people sometimes offer misinformation out of ignorance, uncertainty, or deception. Fortunately, there are several cues people can use to decide whether someone is providing credible information. *** One of the most readily observable cues is the degree of confidence or uncertainty displayed by an individual. Although confidence is not a perfect indication of credibility, research shows that a person's level of confidence in their statements or actions tends to co-vary with their actual knowledge. Cues to one's confidence or uncertainty include linguistic cues (e.g., I think' vs. I know'), nonverbal cues (e.g., facial expressions, shoulder shrugging), and paralinguistic cues (e.g., the intonation, pitch, or rate of speech). A wealth of research has examined how these different perceptual cues influence adults' learning and decision-making, however, very little is known about how, and when, each of these cues influences children's learning and development. *** The primary aims of the experiments in the current proposal are to 1) delineate the developmental origins and trajectory of how people are influenced by each of the different linguistic and paralinguistic cues that often correlate with a person's level of confidence (i.e., intonation, pitch, volume, disfluency, verb choice, and rate of speech), 2) examine how each cue influences learning and memory in different learning contexts (e.g., learning facts versus making moral decisions), and 3) test specific methods for improving people's sensitivity to these speech cues to foster learning and decision-making. *** Representative samples of children at different ages (ages 2 and up), as well as samples of adults, will be presented with conflicting information from two people whose speech differs in one linguistic or paralinguistic cue. In each experiment, I examine what information is encoded (learned), and whether participants' memory is enhanced by the different cues. Across experiments, I vary which cue is manipulated, or present conflicting cues, to determine which cue is most influential at different ages. *** Key questions that guide the proposal include: At what age are children first sensitive to each of these different linguistic and paralinguistic cues? When different cues are pitted against each other, which has the largest impact on learning? Can we train individuals to be more sensitive to specific speech cues to foster learning and decision-making? *** The proposed research directly advances our understanding of children's learning, memory, and cognitive development. It also provides important insights into children's and adults' speech perception and has several practical applications for fostering learning and improving decision-making.

我们的生活需要定期学习。从学习新单词到学习复杂的科学原理，人类经常依赖他人提供信息。不幸的是，人们有时会因为无知、不确定或欺骗而提供错误信息。幸运的是，人们可以通过一些线索来判断某人是否提供了可信的信息。***最容易观察到的线索之一是一个人表现出的自信或不确定程度。尽管自信并不是可信度的完美体现，但研究表明，一个人在其言论或行为中的自信程度往往与他们的实际知识共同变化。一个人自信或不确定的线索包括语言线索（例如，“我认为”和“我知道”）、非语言线索（例如，面部表情、耸耸肩）和副语言线索（例如，语调、音高或语速）。大量的研究已经研究了这些不同的感知线索是如何影响成年人的学习和决策的，然而，对于这些线索如何以及何时影响儿童的学习和发展，我们知之甚少。***当前提案中实验的主要目的是：1)描述人们如何受到每一种不同的语言和副语言线索的影响的发展起源和轨迹，这些线索通常与一个人的自信水平（即语调，音高，音量，不流利，动词选择和语速）相关；2)检查每种线索如何影响不同学习背景下的学习和记忆（例如，学习事实与做出道德决定）；3)测试具体的方法来提高人们对这些语言线索的敏感性，以促进学习和决策。***不同年龄（2岁及以上）的儿童的代表性样本，以及成年人的样本，将从两个人那里得到相互矛盾的信息，他们的语言在一种语言或副语言线索中不同。在每个实验中，我都会检查哪些信息被编码（学习），以及参与者的记忆是否会因不同的线索而增强。在实验中，我改变了被操纵的线索，或者提供了相互矛盾的线索，以确定哪个线索在不同的年龄最有影响力。***指导该提案的关键问题包括：儿童在什么年龄开始对这些不同的语言和副语言线索敏感？当不同的线索相互竞争时，哪一个对学习的影响最大？我们能否训练个体对特定的语言线索更加敏感，从而促进学习和决策？***提出的研究直接促进了我们对儿童学习、记忆和认知发展的理解。它还为儿童和成人的语言感知提供了重要的见解，并在促进学习和改进决策方面有几个实际应用。