论元结构的焦点和重音关系对话语理解的影响

本研究采用韵律合适度判断和理解任务,通过两个实验探讨论元结构的焦点和重音之间的关系对话语理解的影响。实验通过操纵答句中的论元是否出现在问句中,变化问句的信息状态;通过操纵答句不同句子成份重读,变化答句的重读位置。实验结果发现:新论元负载焦点必须重读;重读论元将焦点投射到句子的高一级单元上,但动词必须重读;旧论元不负载焦点不必重读,但负载焦点的动词必须重读。     

对比焦点的认知加工及其与重读的关系

信息结构作为语言学的一个重要概念,在语言学、心理学和神经科学等领域进行了广泛的研究。其中,从焦点和背景这一维度对信息结构的研究最多。通常情况下,人们会重读焦点信息。本研究使用ERP技术,通过对话语篇考察了不同位置对比焦点和重读的一致性对口语语篇理解的影响。研究发现,对比焦点不受位置影响,稳定诱发中后部分布正波,且小句末尾焦点诱发的正效应早于小句内部。此外,重读相对于不重读在小句内部和末尾都诱发了正效应,并且出现在较晚的时间窗口。尽管焦点不重读相对于一致性重读没有诱发任何脑电效应,但背景重读相对背景不重读在小句末尾诱发了一个早期负效应。本研究表明,听者按照不同的方式、即时使用不同位置的对比焦点和重读信息建构语篇表征。     

两种直接表达判断的问句

问句,一般被认为是不表达判断的,但是只有疑问句中的反诘句和选择问句是两个例外的情况,它们可以直接表达判断。(1)反问句直接表达判断反问句也即反诘句。反问是无疑而问,明知故问,它实际上是用问句的形式表达一种肯定或否定的思想,用以进一步强调语气。这样的问句实际上是问中有答,答在问中。如果问句形式是肯定的,则表达否定判断;如果问句形式是否定的,则表     

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。     

重读与信息结构对语篇理解加工的影响

该研究利用口语动窗技术和双重任务范式,探索了重读与信息结构的匹配关系对语篇理解加工的影响、以及其发挥作用的内部机制。结果表明：与控制条件相比,不一致性重读阻碍语篇的理解加工,而一致性重读对语篇理解的促进作用相对不明显;重读促进焦点词汇的加工,而不重读促进非焦点词汇的加工,从而说明重读影响语篇理解不仅仅是由于它能调控听者的注意力分配,更重要的是重读的有无传达着不同的信息加工方式。     

书面韵律边界与语境对歧义句歧义消解的影响

本研究采用眼动记录的方法,考察了被试理解层次分隔歧义句时,作为书面韵律边界的逗号起到的作用,以及逗号与语境信息间的交互作用。实验通过操纵逗号的位置,变化歧义句的句义;通过操纵语境内容,变化语境偏向与逗号解歧方向的一致性。结果发现,逗号做为书面的韵律边界促进了句子的加工。当有书面韵律边界为句子解歧时,被试更依赖于韵律边界。语境信息与书面韵律边界的交互作用发生于句子加工晚期。     

注入希望的仙女棒:奇迹问句

奇迹问句是焦点解决短期治疗极为核心的代表问句;奇迹问句将能协助当事人生动描绘所欲愿景,带来改变的力量与方向。本文将介绍运用奇迹问句的注意事项,包括基本原则、变化应用、后续提问,以能真正发挥奇迹问句的效益。     

工作记忆广度对语篇理解中重读效应的影响

本文探索了工作记忆容量对语篇理解中重读效应的影响。采用阅读广度测验对工作记忆容量进行测量, 筛选出高、低广度两组被试。并采用听觉动窗实验范式, 比较两组被试在语篇理解中即时加工时间的差异。研究结果表明, 重读效应受到工作记忆广度的显著影响。对于低工作记忆广度被试, 一致性重读促进语篇理解, 不一致性重读阻碍语篇理解; 但对于高工作记忆广度被试, 一致性重读的促进效应和不一致性重读的阻碍效应都不显著。另外, 只有在不一致性重读条件下, 低广度者语篇理解的即时加工时间显著多于高广度者, 而在一致性重读和无重读条件下则没有显著差异。最后用工作记忆的控制性注意理论对研究结果进行了讨论。     

患者门诊话语中确认性问句的信息索取功能

确认性问句是门诊患者使用最多的向医生索取核心医学信息的间接方法。经考察这种兼有信息索取功能的确认性问句的功能、语言形式、内容、医生的答句各方面的特征,得出结论：这种确认性问句是病人综合考虑其目的和利益及其在医患角色关系中所处的地位、医生心理、语用原则、当前医惠关系现状各因素后所选择的语言策略,医生应该认真对待。     

患者门诊话语中确认性问句的信息索取功能

确认性问句是门诊患者使用最多的向医生索取核心医学信息的间接方法.经考察这种兼有信息索取功能的确认性问句的功能、语言形式、内容、医生的答句各方面的特征,得出结论:这种确认性问句是病人综合考虑其目的和利益及其在医患角色关系中所处的地位、医生心理、语用原则、当前医患关系现状各因素后所选择的语言策略,医生应该认真对待.     

Imitation improves language comprehension

Humans imitate each other during social interaction. This imitative behavior streamlines social interaction and aids in learning to replicate actions. However, the effect of imitation on action comprehension is unclear. This study investigated whether vocal imitation of an unfamiliar accent improved spoken-language comprehension. Following a pretraining accent comprehension test, participants were assigned to one of six groups. The baseline group received no training, but participants in the other five groups listened to accented sentences, listened to and repeated accented sentences in their own accent, listened to and transcribed accented sentences, listened to and imitated accented sentences, or listened to and imitated accented sentences without being able to hear their own vocalizations. Posttraining measures showed that accent comprehension was most improved for participants who imitated the speaker's accent. These results show that imitation may aid in streamlining interaction by improving spoken-language comprehension under adverse listening conditions.     

The effects of age on the strategic use of pitch accents in memory for discourse: a processing-resource account

In two experiments, we investigated age-related changes in how prosodic pitch accents affect memory. Participants listened to recorded discourses that contained two contrasts between pairs of items (e.g., one story contrasted British scientists with French scientists and Malaysia with Indonesia). The end of each discourse referred to one item from each pair; these references received a pitch accent that either denoted contrast (L + H* in the ToBI system) or did not (H*). A contrastive accent on a particular pair improved later recognition memory equally for young and older adults. However, older adults showed decreased memory if the other pair received a contrastive accent (Experiment 1). Young adults with low working memory performance also showed this penalty (Experiment 2). These results suggest that pitch accents guide processing resources to important information for both older and younger adults but diminish memory for less important information in groups with reduced resources, including older adults.     

Accents in equitone sequences

Equitone sequences are defined as sequences of tones that are identical in all respects: frequency, spectral composition, intensity, and duration. The only parameter varied in these sequences is the time-interval between tones. In such sequences, clear accents are perceived. This paper describes accent perception in equitone sequences containing two alternating intervals; such sequences are perceived as consisting of repeating groups of two tones. An accent is heard on the first tone of a group if the difference between the intervals is about 5% to 10%. If the difference is made bigger, the accent is heard on the last tone of the group; this latter accent is considerably stronger than the accent previously heard on the first tone. In a number of experiments, the conditions under which the two types of accents occur were investigated. From these experiments, it was tentatively concluded that the accent on the last tone is heard because that tone, since it is followed by a longer interval, can be processed more completely. This “intervalproduced” accent indeed occurs only if the between-group interval is considerably longer than the within-group interval and if the latter does not exceed a duration of about 250 msec. The effect is slightly dependent on tone duration. The interval-produced accent can be balanced if the nonaccented tone is increased by about 4 dB in intensity. This shows that the effect is quite robust. The specific type of accentuation reported here might explain some rhythmical phenomena, examples of which are given.     

Rhythm and "good endings": effects of temporal structure on tonality judgments

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate the influence of rhythmic structure on the perception of tonal relationships marking the end of a melody. Musically sophisticated listeners were asked to rate the degree of resolution in a set of folk tunes that varied in their tonal ending and temporal accent structure. The results indicated that melodies ending on the leading tone-to-tonic progression were judged the most complete, while the least complete were those leaving a listener "hanging" by ending on the leading tone note. These ratings, however, were influenced by the temporal accent structure of a tune. The highest degree of resolution was observed for melodies that ended "on time" through an invariant pattern of temporal/melodic accents. Accent structures that led to endings occurring earlier or later than expected resulted in significantly lower resolution ratings. The present results illustrate the need to incorporate dynamic pattern influences into models of tonal perception.     

The development of regional accent discrimination in children: evidence from Spanish / El desarrollo de la discriminación de acentos regionales en niños: evidencia desde el español

This study explores children’s ability to discriminate between regional accents in Spanish. One hundred and seven Chilean children aged three to seven years old were asked to differentiate whether two sentences were spoken with the same accent or not. Results indicate that the ability to differentiate between regional accents emerges around age five, a result which contradicts previous studies. The discussion analyses possible explanations for this difference, particularly regarding the differences between languages according to how transparent or opaque they are, and the possible impact of those characteristics in the development of regional accent discrimination abilities.     

Some influences of accent structure on melody recognition

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the roles of joint accent structure and familiarity in delayed recognition of relatively long tonal melodies. Melodic themes of target melodies were defined by correlating contour-related pitch accents with temporal accents (accent coupling) during an initial familiarization phase. Later, subjects gave recognition responses to key-transposed versions of the target melodies as well as to decoys with same and different contour accent patterns. In Experiment 1, all to-be-recognized melodies occurred both in an original rhythm, which preserved accent coupling, and in a new rhythm, which did not. Listeners were best at distinguishing targets from different decoys, especially in the original rhythm. In Experiment 2, the familiarity of target tunes and the rhythmic similarity in recognition were varied. Similar rhythms preserved accent coupling, whereas dissimilar rhythms did not. Listeners were most adept in distinguishing familiar targets from different decoys (Experiment 2A), particularly when they appeared in novel but similar rhythms. However, in similar rhythm conditions, listeners also frequently mistook same decoys for targets. With less familiar targets (Experiment 2B), these effects were attenuated, and performance showed general effects of pitch contour.     

Strength of German accent under altered auditory feedback.

Borden's (1979, 1980) hypothesis that speakers with vulnerable speech systems rely more heavily on feedback monitoring than do speakers with less vulnerable systems was investigated. The second language (L2) of a speaker is vulnerable, in comparison with the native language, so alteration to feedback should have a detrimental effect on it, according to this hypothesis. Here, we specifically examined whether altered auditory feedback has an effect on accent strength when speakers speak L2. There were three stages in the experiment. First, 6 German speakers who were fluent in English (their L2) were recorded under six conditions--normal listening, amplified voice level, voice shifted in frequency, delayed auditory feedback, and slowed and accelerated speech rate conditions. Second, judges were trained to rate accent strength. Training was assessed by whether it was successful in separating German speakers speaking English from native English speakers, also speaking English. In the final stage, the judges ranked recordings of each speaker from the first stage as to increasing strength of German accent. The results show that accents were more pronounced under frequency-shifted and delayed auditory feedback conditions than under normal or amplified feedback conditions. Control tests were done to ensure that listeners were judging accent, rather than fluency changes caused by altered auditory feedback. The findings are discussed in terms of Borden's hypothesis and other accounts about why altered auditory feedback disrupts speech control.     

Effect of accent and dialect on employability

This study was designed to determine how ethnicity, the amount of perceived accent or dialect, and comprehensibility affect a speaker's employability. Sixty human resource specialists judged 3 female potential applicants. The applicants represented speakers of Spanish‐influenced English, Asian‐influenced English, and African American Vernacular English. When the speaker's perceived accent or dialect was minimal, perceived ethnicity did not affect employability. However, all speakers with maximally perceived accents or dialects were given a lower employability rating. Thus, speakers with a maximally perceived accent or dialect should consider accent or dialectal modification if their comprehensibility or prospective employability is compromised.     

Rhythm and “good endings”: Effects of temporal structure on tonality judgments

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate the influence of rhythmic structure on the perception of tonal relationships marking the end of a melody. Musically sophisticated listeners were asked to rate the degree of resolution in a set of folk tunes that varied in their tonal ending and temporal accent structure. The results indicated that melodies ending on the leading tone-to-tonic progression were judged the most complete, while the least complete were those leaving a listener “hanging” by ending on the leading tone note. These ratings, however, were influenced by the temporal accent structure of a tune. The highest degree of resolution was observed for melodies that ended “on time” through an invariant pattern of temporal/melodic accents. Accent structures that led to endings occurring earlier or later than expected resulted in significantly lower resolution ratings. The present results illustrate the need to incorporate dynamic pattern influences into models of tonal perception.