Doctoral Dissertation Research: Phonological Prediction in Spoken Language Processing

言语在时间上迅速展开，但母语人士的理解通常是准确和有效的。先前的研究表明，语言处理似乎如此轻松和强大的原因之一是语言使用者可以使用上下文来预测即将到来的语言输入。人们普遍认为，在这种预测性语言处理中，高度期望词的语义和形态句法特征可以被预先激活。然而，有一个正在进行的辩论是否一个可预测的词的语音形式也可以在实时句子处理常规预激活。这个项目通过利用预期音调变化的现象来解决这一争论。本研究的结果将推进我们的知识的作用，预期声调变化的口语单词识别和语音处理，以及在预测语言处理的语音形式预激活。本项目首先利用眼动追踪技术研究预期声调变化线索如何促进语音感知中即将出现的单词的声调预测。然后，本研究将通过使用脑电描记技术（EEG）测量受试者对前一个单词的大脑反应，来考察受试者是否能够预先激活可预测单词的音调形式。至关重要的是，在某些实验条件下，预期的单词将被一个与预期单词共享或不共享音调形式的意外单词所取代，因此前一个单词中的预期音调变化线索与预期单词的音调一致或不一致。指导性假设是：如果预期词的声调形式可以被预激活，那么当预期词和被预测词的声调不同时，事件相关电位（ERP）对前一个词应该有较大幅度的调制;然而，如果没有或只有很少语音形式预激活，在遇到意想不到的词之前，应该很少或没有ERP幅度调制。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响评审标准。

Speech unfolds rapidly in time, yet native speakers’ comprehension is generally accurate and efficient. Previous research suggests that one reason why language processing seems to be so effortless and robust is that language users can use context to predict upcoming language input. It is generally agreed that semantic and morpho-syntactic features of a highly expected word can be pre-activated in such predictive language processing. However, there is an ongoing debate about whether the phonological form of a predictable word can also be routinely pre-activated in real-time sentence processing. This project addresses this debate by exploiting the phenomena of anticipatory tonal variations. The results of this study will advance our knowledge on the role of anticipatory tonal variations in spoken-word recognition and speech processing, and on phonological form pre-activation in predictive language processing. This will in turn inform our understanding of the cognitive process in language perception.This project first examines how anticipatory tonal variation cues can facilitate tonal prediction of an upcoming word in speech perception using eye-tracking technique. Then, the study will examine whether listeners can pre-activate the tonal form of a predictable word by measuring their brain responses to the preceding word using electroencephalography (EEG) technique. Crucially, the expected word in some experimental conditions will be substituted by an unexpected one that shares or does not share the tonal form with the expected word, so the anticipatory tonal variation cues in the preceding word is either concordant or incompatible with the tone of the expected word. The guiding hypothesis is that if the tonal form of the expected word can be pre-activated, there should be larger amplitude modulation of event-related potentials (ERPs) to the preceding word when the unexpected word and the predicted word differ in tone; however, if there is little or no phonological form pre-activation, there should be little or no ERP amplitude modulation prior to encountering the unexpected wordThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.