韵律特征研究

介绍从知觉、认知和语料库分析角度对汉语韵律特征进行的一系列研究。（1）韵律特征知觉：用实验心理学和知觉标注的语料库分析方法,研究汉语语调和音高下倾与降阶问题,语句和语篇中知觉可以区分的韵律层级及相关的声学线索。研究结果支持汉语语调的双线模型理论和语句音高下倾的存在;证明语篇中知觉可以区分的韵律边界是小句、句子和段落,及其知觉相关的声学线索。（2）韵律特征与其他语言学结构的关系：在标注的语料库的基础上,用常规统计方法研究语句常规重音分布规律、语篇信息结构与重音的关系、并用决策树方法研究根据文本信息确定韵律短语边界和焦点的规则。（3）韵律特征在语篇理解中的作用：用实验心理学方法和脑电指标研究韵律对语篇信息整合和指代理解的影响,揭示其作用的认知和神经机制。讨论了这些研究结果对语音工程、语音学理论和心理语言学研究的实践和理论意义     

普通话韵律词重音知觉

实验一研究了韵律词重音的多个声学相关物,及其对韵律词重音知觉贡献的大小,结果表明,按照贡献大小的次序,影响普通话韵律词重音感知的声学参数是：时长、音高、频谱倾斜和平均能量。实验二研究非声学参数因素对普通话韵律词重音知觉的影响,实验结果表明,听者关于普通话韵律词重音方面的语言学知识对韵律词重音的知觉有显著影响。     

汉语语句重音的分类和分布

通过两个独立进行的重音标注实验对汉语语句重音的分类和分布进行了初步探讨。实验l是由60位普通被试参加的音节重音突显度的知觉实验。实验2是由本文三位作者参加的重音类别标注实验,在此实验中语句重音被划分为节奏重音和语义重音。实验2中对于语句重音的分类性标注结果得到了实验l中普通被试对音节重音突显度知觉结果的支持,这说明人们确实能够感知到两种不同类型的重音。实验结果还表明,节奏重音倾向于出现在较大韵律单元内的最末韵律词的末音节上,并且与适当的停延相伴生,语义重音的分布则与语句的韵律结构的关系不大。     

汉语普通话句子重音在时长方面的声学表现

研究包括2部分。在第一部分,通过对由10个发音人发音的148条句子中的4个词时长方面的声学特征的分析发现：（1）当句子重音强调词时,时长的增加主要集中在这个词的重读音节上;（2）当句子重音强调词的某个音节时,时长的延长主要集中在这个音节上。在第二部分,通过使用上述语句的知觉实验发现,句子重音强调词的语句和句子重音强调这个词的重读音节的语句相对于它们的语境是可以相互替换的, 这种相互可替换性起因于这两种语句声学表现方面的相似性     

强调范围对句子重音知觉的影响及其声学表现的研究

通过韵律匹配度知觉实验和声学参数分析,探讨了句子层面上不同强调范围对句子重音知觉的影响。实验材料为精心设计的语料,两名发音人在问答匹配的实验范式下朗读,以自然的方式强调相应内容。20名被试对不同强调范围的问答句进行韵律匹配度知觉判断。结果发现,一些答句和问句之间的匹配可以替换,另一些答句只与对应的问句匹配。句子重音的实现符合节律栅规则。通过对不同语境下音节的时长和音高进行声学参数分析。结果表明,时长延长和音高升高都是重音的声学表现。时长增加涉及的范围没有因句子重音的强调范围不同而不同。     

韵律在语言加工中的作用及其神经机制

综述了近年来使用即时加工方法进行的韵律理解和作用机制方面的一些研究。首先, 介绍了韵律特征在句法加工中的作用, 从重音、韵律边界和韵律单元三个研究角度分析了韵律在句子理解中所起的作用及作用的时间点; 然后, 探讨了韵律加工的脑机制问题。论文最后提出未来的研究应在更广阔的视野中对韵律的加工阶段以及韵律与其他心理过程之间的关系进行探讨。     

老年人群的韵律感知

老龄化导致听觉系统、认知功能有所衰退。老年人群的言语理解能力减弱, 韵律信息解析存在困难。老年人对重音、语调、语速等语言韵律感知能力退化, 对情感韵律的加工也出现问题, 特别是消极情绪韵律加工减退较快。老年疾病进一步加深韵律加工难度, 韵律感知呈现出与特定疾病的相关性。未来研究需考察不同语言背景老年人群的韵律感知表现与机制、复杂交流环境的影响、韵律感知障碍对老年疾病的预测、韵律感知的早期干预与复健等问题。     

语句重音分布模式知觉

在排除语义和句法结构信息的情况下,用统计方法研究听者使用局部的韵律学线索知觉语句重音分布模式的能力;并根据知觉模式,讨论汉语中重音分类、词重音在语流中的变化以及重音在语句组织和语义表达中的作用等问题。     

言语产生中的韵律生成

首先描述了韵律生成的相关模型。然后以研究的问题为着眼点,回顾了言语产生中韵律生成的相关研究。发现大多数研究结果都证明,在单词产生过程中,存在一个独立于音段内容的抽象韵律结构,其中包含了词的重音模式和音节数量等信息;在短语和句子产生过程中,韵律结构和停顿模式都不是完全决定于句法结构,而具有相对的独立性;句子韵律产生的最佳单位是韵律词。语言学韵律产生的脑区激活呈左侧化趋势。     

韵律对指代歧义的解歧作用及其机制

研究了韵律特征对指代歧义的解歧作用及其机制。所选的指代歧义句先由 33名被试确定其主要意思和次要意思。歧义句由 8名发音人朗读 ,经专家和普通听者评定后选出 1人的语料为实验材料。各有 12名在校大学生参加了重音听辨实验和名词互换语义判断实验。实验 1请被试比较歧义句中切分出来的所指名词与非所指名词的重读程度。实验 2中将不同的名词组合嵌入到主要意思与次要意思的句子框架中 ,请被试判断合成句表达的是主要意思还是次要意思。实验 3对 4名发音人的语料进行了声学分析 ,测量并比较了歧义句中的所指名词和非所指名词的音高、时长和音强。结果表明 ,韵律信息对于指代歧义有较好的解歧效果 ,消解指代歧义的基本手段是在所指名词上设置重音 ,其主要的声学表现是所指名词时长的延长。     

What's in a picture? The impact of face-ism on trait attribution

Previous research indicated a ‘face-ism’ bias in media depictions of men and women: me media tend to represent men with their faces, whereas women's depictions include larger parts of their bodies, rendering their faces less prominent. To explore the impact of facial prominence on impression formation, male and female subjects received either full-body or portrait-style photographs, made from the same negatives, of male and female stimulus persons of different likeability. Male and female subjects evaluated all stimulus persons as more competent (intelligent, assertive, ambitious, etc.) if presented with a high (portrait) rather than a low (full-body photograph) degree of facial prominence. This main effect of facial prominence was not qualified by interaction effects with any of the other variables. PIUS, the media's face-ism bias is likely to contribute to a perception of men as more competent than women. In addition, female but not male subjects also evaluated stimulus persons as more expressive and likeable under conditions of high facial prominence, reflecting a global positive effect of facial prominence.     

The Causal Exclusion Puzzle

The article is divided into two parts. The first part offers a careful reconstruction and detailed discussion of the argument of causal exclusion, as well as of the implications it has for physicalism. In its second part the article examines two important objections to the causal exclusion argument: the generalization objection, which holds that the argument is unacceptable since it confers causal efficacy only to ultimate basic properties, which arguably might not exist; and Yablo's objection, according to which underlying the argument of causal exclusion there is a principle of causal parsimony which leads to strong counterintuitive results and should therefore be abandoned. The article offers grounds for rejecting both objections as well as a new diagnosis of the problem for mental causation generated by the causal exclusion argument.     

Negative-based prominence: the role of negative features in matching and choice

Previous research related to the prominence effect (e.g., Tversky, Sattath, & Slovic, 1988) has mainly focused on the causes and boundary conditions of the effect. This article investigates the determinants of prominence and explores a negative-based prominence effect in which the negative attribute becomes the prominent one. Using a matching-choice procedure, Experiments 1 and 2 show that the negative dimension became the prominent one under two different cover stories, suggesting that the negative feature looms larger in choice than in matching. The robustness of negative-based prominence was further demonstrated in a direct choice task without matching (Experiment 3) and was shown to be resistant to the impact of added positive features (Experiment 4). Finally, Experiments 5 and 6 distinguish between two determinants of prominence: intrinsic prominence caused by attribute importance and negative-based prominence caused by negative attribute values. By lowering the values on the positive dimension and enhancing the values on the negative dimension, one can reverse the prominence effect. The results suggest that, compared to a matching task, choice leads to enhanced sensitivity to negative features. The relations between negative characteristics of an attribute and other factors that determine prominence are discussed in the final section.     

An empirical analysis of trends in psychology

The present research examined trends in the prominence of 4 widely recognized schools in scientific psychology: psychoanalysis, behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. The results, which replicated across 3 measures of prominence, showed the following trends: (a) psychoanalytic research has been virtually ignored by mainstream scientific psychology over the past several decades; (b) behavioral psychology has declined in prominence and gave way to the ascension of cognitive psychology during the 1970s; (c) cognitive psychology has sustained a steady upward trajectory and continues to be the most prominent school; and (d) neuroscience has seen only a modest increase in prominence in mainstream psychology, despite evidence for its conspicuous growth in general. The authors use these findings as a springboard for discussing different views of scientific prominence and conclude that psychologists should evaluate trends in the field empirically, not intuitively.     

Hierarchical structure in perceptual representation

A theoretical framework for perceptual representation is presented which proposes that information is coded in hierarchical networks of nonverbal propositions. The hierarchical structure of the representations implies selective organization: Some subsets of a figure will be encoded as integral, structural units of that figure, while others will not. A context-sensitive metric for the “goodness” of a part within a figure is developed, corresponding to the probability that the subset will be encoded as a structural unit. Converging evidence supporting this position is presented from four different tasks using simple, straight-line figures. The tasks studied are (a) dividing figures into “natural” parts, (b) rating the “goodness” of parts within figures, (c) timed verification of parts within figures, and (d) timed mental synthesis of spatially separated parts into unitary figures. The results are discussed in terms of the proposed theory of representation, the processes that operate on those representations, and the general implications of the data for perceptual theories.     

The development and validation of the Relational, Individual, and Collective self-aspects (RIC) Scale

A new scale measuring Relational, Individual, and Collective self-aspects (RIC) was developed. The RIC Scale consists of ten questions each followed by three options reflecting the three self-aspects. Respondents rate each option in terms of its applicability to the self, yielding three subscale scores and revealing the relative prominence of each self-aspect. Two samples of university students (N1 = 170, N2 = 214) were used to develop and refine the scale. Analyses supported the reliability and validity of the three RIC subscales. Each self-aspect correlated in predicted ways with several existing scales. The RIC Scale also proved useful in assessing gender differences in self-aspect prominence. Validity of the three-part model of the self and implications for future research are discussed.     

Configurations of Young Peoples’ Important Life Goals and Their Associations with Thriving

The aims of this study were to determine whether, and how, young people’s beyond-the-self life goals coexisted with other life goals, and whether having at least one beyond-the-self goal was associated with higher thriving (the Five Cs of Positive Youth Development [PYD]) and volunteering, compared to having either no goals, or goals that were only self-focused. The authors conducted latent class analyses among five school cohort groups using data from five studies (combined using integrative data analysis techniques). Across grade groups, the authors identified classes, which can generally be characterized by (1) low endorsement of goals, (2) prominence of helping others and contributing to community goals, (3) prominence of goals related to a good life (e.g., make money, friends, live an adventurous life), and (4) endorsement of most life goals. In the older two grade groups we identified additional classes: a group with a high endorsement of goals oriented at helping others and serving God/higher power in the undergraduate group, and a group with high endorsement of goals to create something new and make the world a better place in the graduate group. There were differences in the Five Cs of PYD and volunteering between the classes. The authors discuss the implications of these results for future research and practice regarding young people’s life goals.     

Documenting the Adverse Impact of Résumé Screening: Degree of ethnic identification matters

We investigated the adverse impact of résumé screening, taking into account the intersectionality of minority characteristics. A correspondence audit test showed hiring discrimination depended on the strength of applicants' ethnic identification. The odds for rejection were 4–6 times higher for résumés with ethnic minority identifiers (Arab names; Arab affiliations) when compared with ethnic majority identifiers (Dutch names; Dutch affiliations). Sex moderated the ethnicity effect but the particular effect (ethnic prominence; double jeopardy against women or men) depended on the type and degree of ethnic identification, lending support for a within‐category approach to study ethnic prejudice. The four‐fifths rule resulted in similar findings. Theoretical implications regarding the intersectional effects of minority characteristics and practical implications regarding ways to avert adverse impact during résumé screening are discussed.     

Response Mode Bias in the Formation of Preference: Boundary Conditions of the Prominence Effect

Prior research has discovered that the most prominent attribute has greater influence on the formation of preference in choice versus matching tasks. We extend the research on this phenomenon, which is known as the prominence effect (Tversky, Sattath, & Slovic, 1988), by examining its generalizability and by providing insight into the psychological processes involved. The effects of task characteristics (i.e., the number of attributes and alternatives) and the effects of subject characteristics (i.e., processing goal) on the prominence effect were examined. In the first experiment we found that the prominence effect reverses when the number of attributes increases from two to four. That is, the prominent attribute is given greater weight in matching tasks rather than in choice tasks. A second experiment demonstrated that processing goal does influence the robustness of the prominence effect. We found that the influence of the prominent attribute on the formation of preference did not differ in choice and matching tasks when subjects′ processing goal was to form an overall impression of each of the alternatives. A third experiment, which explored the interaction between the response mode and processing goal in the four attribute case replicated this finding. Findings from Experiment 1 were also extended so that the reverse prominence effect was found when subjects processing goal was to memorize the information. Implications of these results are discussed.