The Role of Acoustic Prominence in Language Production and Comprehension

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案探讨声学突出在语言产生和理解中的作用，声学突出是韵律的一个方面。传统上，研究人员将声音突出描述为说话者发出给定信息的一种方式：新信息被重音，而已知信息没有重音。在这个提议中，它提出，声学突出是一个函数，1)一个词的重要性的谈话和2)可预测性的词。初步实验的结果表明，说话者会把重要的、不可预测的词放在更显眼的位置，而信息性和可预测性在说话者选择的显眼类型中起着作用。然而，重要的问题依然存在。实验1-6使用眼动追踪视觉世界范式研究说话者产生的声突出程度是否与其在参考交流任务中的重要性成正比，以及听者是否对声突出的细微差异敏感。实验7-8探讨了可预见性对声学突出的影响是由规划过程还是由促进听者理解的过程驱动的。实验9和10探讨了可预测性和信息性如何相互作用影响音高重音选择。成功沟通的一个重要组成部分是产生和理解具有适当韵律的语言（例如重音、音高、节奏和停顿）。影响韵律产生和理解的语言缺陷个体可能存在沟通困难，而韵律在在线语言处理中如何促进沟通尚不清楚。作为韵律的一个方面，声学突出在语言的产生和理解中起着重要的作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal investigates the role acoustic prominence, which is one aspect of prosody, plays in language production and comprehension. Traditionally, researchers have characterized acoustic prominence as a means by which a speaker signals the givenness of information: new information is accented and given information is not. In this proposal it is proposed that acoustic prominence is a function of 1) the importance of a word to a conversation and 2) the predictability of the word. Results from preliminary experiments suggest that speakers produce important, less predictable words with more prominence, and that informativeness and predictability play a role in the type of prominence that is chosen by speakers. However, important questions remain. Experiments 1-6 investigate whether the degree of acoustic prominence produced by a speaker is proportional to its importance in a referential communication task and whether listeners are sensitive to fine- grained differences in acoustic prominence using an eye-tracking visual world paradigm. Experiments 7-8 explore whether effects of predictability on acoustic prominence are driven by processes in planning or by processes that facilitate listener comprehension. Experiments 9 and 10 investigate how predictability and informativeness interact to influence pitch accent choice. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE An important part of successful communication is producing and understanding language with appropriate prosody (e.g. stress, pitch, rhythm, and pausing). Individuals with language deficits that affect the production and comprehension of prosody are likely to have difficulty communicating, and little is known about how prosody facilitates communication in on-line language processing. This proposal investigates the role acoustic prominence, which is one aspect of prosody, plays in language production and comprehension.