Doctoral Dissertation Research: Examining the Role of Literacy on Predictive Processing during Spoken Language Comprehension

预测被认为是一种促进语言理解的心理操作。也就是说，当听一个句子时，听者会对即将到来的单词做出预测（例如，在听到“I drink my coffee with cream and…”后预测“sugar”）。当人们的预测是正确的时候，单词的阅读速度会更快，因为这个人已经预料到了接下来会发生什么。过去的实验研究表明，阅读任务中的预测是由阅读技能调节的。对这一发现的解释是，因为阅读使人们接触到不同类型的句子结构和更广泛的词汇，阅读技能高的人增加了知识，可以用来做出准确的预测。然而，在过去的文献中没有考虑到的一个方面是社会经济地位（SES）的作用。这是一个重要的变量，因为来自低社会经济地位背景的个体也更有可能缺乏阅读经验。因此，目前尚不清楚是阅读技能本身还是社会经济地位影响了预测能力。阐明这一点是本博士论文研究的目的。从读写能力和社会经济地位没有直接联系的社区参与者那里获取数据，将进行两个实验，以确定读写能力在口语理解过程中预测处理中的作用。在实验1中，参与者在听语法提示的句子时，会记录他们对电脑屏幕上显示的物体的眼球运动。实验二还将采用眼动追踪技术，这一次将检验语法和语义线索如何调节预期过程。拟议实验的结果将用于为不同和弱势群体创建和提供扫盲讲习班。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Prediction has been proposed as a mental operation that facilitates language comprehension. That is, when listening to a sentence, a listener makes predictions about up-coming words (for instance, predicting "sugar" after hearing "I drink my coffee with cream and ..."). When people's predictions are correct, words are read faster because the person has anticipated what is coming up. Past experimental research has demonstrated that prediction in a reading task is modulated by reading skill. The interpretation of this finding is that because reading exposes people to different types of sentence structures and to a wider range of vocabulary, individuals with high reading skill have added knowledge that can be used to generate accurate predictions. One aspect that has not been considered in past literature, however, is the role of socioeconomic status (SES). This is an important variable to investigate because individuals from low SES backgrounds are also more likely to have less reading experience. Hence, it is unclear whether it is reading skill per se or socioeconomic status that impacts predictive ability. Clarifying this point is the goal of the present doctoral dissertation research study.Drawing data from participants in a community where literacy and SES are not directly linked, two experiments will be conducted to determine the role of literacy on predictive processing during spoken language comprehension. In Experiment 1, eye movements to objects displayed on a computer screen will be recorded while participants listen to sentences where the cue to anticipation is grammatical. Experiment 2 will also employ an eye tracking technique, this time to examine how grammatical and semantic cues modulate anticipatory processes. Findings from the proposed experiments will be used to create and to offer literacy workshops for diverse and less-advantaged populations.This 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.