Learning words and learning sounds: Advances in language development

Phonological development is sometimes seen as a process of learning sounds, or forming phonological categories, and then combining sounds to build words, with the evidence taken largely from studies demonstrating ‘perceptual narrowing’ in infant speech perception over the first year of life. In contrast, studies of early word production have long provided evidence that holistic word learning may precede the formation of phonological categories. In that account, children begin by matching their existing vocal patterns to adult words, with knowledge of the phonological system emerging from the network of related word forms. Here I review evidence from production and then consider how the implicit and explicit learning mechanisms assumed by the complementary memory systems model might be understood as reconciling the two approaches.     

More evidence of the linkage between face processing and language processing

This review of the literature on the emergence of language describes two opposing views of phonological development, the sound‐based versus the whole‐word‐based accounts. An integrative model is proposed which claims that learning sublexical speech sounds and producing wordlike vocalizations are in fact parallel processes that feed each other during language development. We argue that this model might find unexpected support from the face processing literature.     

工作记忆成分与儿童算术认知

根据Baddeley和Hitch(1974)提出的工作记忆多成分模型,研究者对工作记忆的各个成分与儿童算术认知之间的关系进行了广泛的探索。同语音环和视空间模板相比,中央执行在儿童算术认知加工中的作用显得更为关键。目前,探讨各种中央执行功能与儿童算术认知的关系,以及由此来解释算术学习困难儿童的认知成因是这个领域研究者最为关注的焦点。     

工作记忆中注意焦点转换的代偿机制—— 来自聋生和发音抑制的证据

注意焦点转换是工作记忆中一项重要的执行功能。前人的研究提示视空间画板可能参与言语工作记忆中的注意转换。通过聋生和发音抑制方式探索语音回路子系统受损或受阻后, 视空间画板子系统完成注意转换任务的反应模式。采用“三计数”任务, 实验一比较了极重度耳聋学生和健听学生在工作记忆中的注意焦点转换效应。结果表明聋生与健听被试在不同记忆子项中转换的反应时间均长于不转换时间。但与健听被试相比, 聋生完成注意转换任务的正确率降低, 在转换和不转换之间的反应时差别减小, 且转换方向对反应时无影响, 转换方向和转换距离表现出显著的交互作用。下行转换时近转换快于远转换, 上行转换时近转换慢于远转换。实验二比较了发音抑制和无抑制条件下的注意转换效应, 发音抑制组在注意焦点转换中表现出与聋生组既类似又存在区别的反应模式。这些结果提示工作记忆的中枢执行系统具有高度的灵活性。当语音回路功能受阻后, 注意转换仍能借助视空间画板子系统得以完成。与暂时性抑制相比, 语音回路功能长期受损后表现出一定的功能代偿。     

工作记忆对时间加工的影响

非时间信息加工与时间加工的关系是复杂的, 存在双向干扰或单向干扰, 结果的不一致与任务所需的注意资源及工作记忆都有关。工作记忆的中央执行系统在时间加工中起主要作用, 同时进行的非时间任务对中央执行功能的需求越多, 两种任务之间的干扰程度越大。语言环和视空间模板对时间加工的影响与非时间信息的类型有关。工作记忆作为一个整体以工作记忆容量为指标, 计时成绩也表现出与工作记忆容量有关的年龄、智力等方面的差异。时间加工和工作记忆在额叶、顶叶、基底神经节等皮质存在共同的神经机制。未来应该丰富工作记忆的研究内容, 结合时间加工的分段性探讨工作记忆影响时间加工的具体进程及神经机制, 并力求在应用方面取得一定的成果。     

An fMRI study of phonological and spatial working memory using identical stimuli

The aim of the present fMRI study was to localize brain areas that were uniquely activated for phonological versus spatial working memory. Previous studies have reported inconsistent results, most likely because of methodological heterogeneity varying both stimuli and instructions in the same study. Here, identical consonant-vowel-consonant non-words were visually presented to the subjects in a 2-back paradigm under two different instructions; the subjects either had to memorize the non-words per se or their location. The results give evidence for a hemispheric organization of working memory, with dominance for processing of phonological information in the left hemisphere and frontal cortex, and spatial information in the right hemisphere and parietal cortex. The results also reflect a certain overlap between the neuronal network for working memory and processing of verbal and spatial material. These findings are discussed with regard to processing specificity and the extent that activated areas also may reflect perceptual processes.     

Cognitive and linguistic skills in Swedish children with cochlear implants - measures of accuracy and latency as indicators of development

The purpose of the present study was to examine working memory (WM) capacity, lexical access and phonological skills in 19 children with cochlear implants (CI) (5;7-13;4 years of age) attending grades 0-2, 4, 5 and 6 and to compare their performance with 56 children with normal hearing. Their performance was also studied in relation to demographic factors. The findings indicate that children with CI had visuospatial WM capacities equivalent to the comparison group. They had lower performance levels on most of the other cognitive tests. Significant differences between the groups were not found in all grades and a number of children with CI performed within 1 SD of the mean of their respective grade-matched comparison group on most of the cognitive measures. The differences between the groups were particularly prominent in tasks of phonological WM. The results are discussed with respect to the effects of cochlear implants on cognitive development.     

汉语中词长效应的初步实验研究

该文以回忆出一个词表的序列呈现顺序的正确率为指标考察汉语中的词长效应(Word-Length Effect)。实验材料为汉语中不同音节数目的词语。实验结果发现,在纯词表中,存在显著的词长效应。但是在混合词表中(包括长短词交替词表以及随机词表),词长效应会消失。研究结果支持词长效应的基于词表的解释,同时,项目的特异性也具有一定的作用。     

言语产生过程中语义、语音激活的ERP研究

使用ERP技术考察了言语产生过程中语音和语义的激活情况。图片上有3种条件的干扰词,分别与目标图片名称形成3种关系:语义相关,语音相同,语义、语音、字形都不相关。结果显示,当被试执行延迟命名任务(实验1)时,与目标图片名称语义相关和控制条件的波形比语音相关的波形更趋于负向。说明在图片命名过程中语音有明显的促进作用。当要求被试对上述图片进行延迟语义判断任务(实验2)时,与目标图片名称语义相关、语音相关及控制条件的波形之间无明显差异。说明在语义提取过程中没有语音的促进作用。综合实验1和实验2,本研究的结果更倾向于支持独立两阶段模型。