Chapter 7
Perception for Language
This chapter discusses some significant problems in visual and auditory perception
related to language processing. In this chapter, take note of some important findings in both
visual and audio perception studies. they consider in particular those skills that are specifically
language-oriented and act as a prerequisite for successful language processing. The chapter will
also consider some of the findings from language acquisition that indicate the early stage at
which these perceptual skills develop.
Basic issues in perception for language
Language users must decipher whether or not the signals reach the brain are language,
whether or not they understand this language, and what they say meaningfully. Neurophysic of
hemispheric specialization offers proof that people are linguistic experts. Some tasks are
controlled by certain brain areas. Significant evidence that each hemisphere is responsible for
different tasks. Typically, language faculties are in the left hemisphere. There is also generally a
cross over, in that the right hemisphere is responsible for the left side of the body, and vice versa.
As a result, most people have a right ear advantage (REA) for speech. However, studies show
that REA does not reflect auditory processing overall, but rather the linguistic processing of the
left hemisphere. (the left ear usually has an advantage with musical stimuli!) Word recognition
(written). → only involved recognizing the individual letters in relatively uncommon words.
The rest of the time, it is down to the overall shape of the words. Phonemes and phonetic
features (even smaller details) have been argued to be perceptually valid. Variation is a
significant issue in perception. Variation in writing styles, which affects letter shape and
legibility. Also in speech, every speaker is different in their physical factors which changes the
way the sound is produced.
Even intra speaker variation, which is often caused by the phonological environment, and
speaking situation . Predictable variations can be useful, such as age, sex, social class, origins
etc. certain variations, such as dialectal, can also make certain phonemes more distinguishable.
Modern theories of language comprehension and production suggest that we store multiple
representations of the same unit, known as exemplars. These can include information about the
speaker, the time and the location of the utterance, and are possible solutions to how humans deal
with language variations. The suggestion is new exemplars are added when encountered, and old
unactivated ones fade over time. Speech strings need to be segmentable so we can recognize
individual units, but it isn't straightforward. speakers don't naturally mark the clear boundaries
between words or units. Extracting the linguistic information from the input can be difficult for
the listener due to two major things lack of invariance of a segment (different situations and
speakers) and the second is segmentation.
Basic Issues in Speech Perception
Human's hearing is sensitive to a frequency range within which speech sounds are found;
600HZ to 4000HZ. • Humans treat linguistic and non-linguistic signals as separate inputs, to
reduce distraction. This has been shown in the phoneme restoration effect.
Human perceptual system streams language and non-language signals
- treat them as separate inputs
- reducing distracting effects of non-speech signals
Examples:
1. distinction between linguistic sounds and non-linguistic sounds
2. phoneme restoration effect
Linguistic vs. non-linguistic sounds
Distinction is language specific:
- will click sounds in click languages sound like non-linguistic sounds for us?
phoneme restoration effect
When listener hear words in which a speech sound has been replaced by a non-speech sound,
they are likely to report the word as intact.
Findings by Warren (1970):
- Participants heard the word normally
- Only one subject reported a missing phoneme
- Knowledge about likely spoken word can "fill in" missing phoneme information
Cue integration
The perception of an individual sound depends on cue [Link] involves a range of
cues that distinguish a sound from others,Visual cues:
- We are often able to see the people we are listening to
- Their face tell us much about what they are saying.
Normally, visual cues will be compatible with auditory cues
Basic Issues in Visual Perception
Some sort of preliminary analysis of the input is also assumed to take place
Issues of representation: does visual word recognition involve recognizing:
- a word as a whole?
- individual letters?
- larger units
- smaller units than letters
Assumption:
- Visual input is not recognized on a straightforward letter-by-letter basis
- The Whole word shape is important.
Evidence
we recognize words containing misspellings and ordering errors just as long as the overall
shape of the word is relatively unaffected
Influence of the linguistic system on perception
There are many ways in which our perception is influenced by the linguistic system, i.e.
by the fact that the sounds or visual shapes is process may be considered part of the language.
The human brain is specialized in language processing the perceptual system transmits language
and non-language stimuli; but it integrates stimuli if that makes linguistic sense; cue integration
includes visual integration.