The Role of Acoustic Prominence in Language Production and Comprehension

描述（由申请人提供）：该提案调查的作用声学突出，这是韵律的一个方面，在语言生产和理解中发挥作用。传统上，研究人员将声学突出性描述为说话者发出信息给定性信号的一种手段：新信息被强调，而给定信息则不是。在这个提议中，提出声学突出是1）单词对会话的重要性和2）单词的可预测性的函数。初步实验的结果表明，扬声器产生重要的，更突出的可预测性较低的话，和信息性和可预测性发挥作用的突出的类型，是由扬声器选择。然而，重要的问题仍然存在。实验1-6使用眼动跟踪视觉世界范式研究说话者产生的声学显著性程度是否与其在参考通信任务中的重要性成比例，以及听者是否对声学显著性的细粒度差异敏感。实验7-8探讨了可预测性对声学突出的影响是由计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，以影响音高口音的选择。公共卫生相关性成功沟通的一个重要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）。个体的语言缺陷，影响生产和理解的韵律很可能有困难的沟通，并很少有人知道韵律如何促进沟通的在线语言处理。本研究旨在探讨韵律的一个方面--声学突出在语言产生和理解中的作用。

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.