Incremental Planning of Complex Noun Phrases in Sentence Production

We examined the production of relative clauses in sentences with a complex noun phrase containing two possible attachment sites for the relative clause (e.g., “Someone shot the servant of the actress who was on the balcony.”). On the basis of two corpus analyses and two sentence continuation tasks, we conclude that much research about this specific syntactic ambiguity has used complex noun phrases that are quite uncommon. These noun phrases involve the relationship between two humans and, at least in Dutch, induce a different attachment preference from noun phrases referring to non-human entities. We provide evidence that the use of this type of complex noun phrase may have distorted the conclusions about the processes underlying relative clause attachment. In addition, it is shown that, notwithstanding some notable differences between sentence production in the continuation task and in coherent text writing, there seems to be a remarkable correspondence between the attachment patterns obtained with both modes of production.

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Advance planning in written and spoken sentence production

10.31234/osf.io/yx9b7 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jens Roeser ◽

Mark Torrance ◽

Thom Baguley

Keyword(s):

Noun Phrase ◽

Noun Phrases ◽

Sentence Production ◽

Experimental Comparison ◽

Lexical Retrieval ◽

Specific Requirement ◽

Image Description ◽

Lexical Priming ◽

Response Onset ◽

Advance Planning

Response onset latencies for spoken sentences that start with a conjoined noun phrase are typically longer than for sentences starting with a simple noun phrase. This is consistent with advance retrieval of syntactic frames independently of lexical retrieval. Alternatively, planning may be lexically driven and planning beyond the initial noun is merely a modality-specific requirement of speech. In three image-description experiments (Ns = 32) subjects produced sentences with simple and conjoined initial noun phrases in both speech and writing. Production onset latencies and participants' eye movements were recorded. Ease of lexical retrieval of sentences' second nouns was assessed by manipulating codability (Experiment 1) and by lexical priming (Experiments 2 and 3). Findings confirmed a modality-independent phrasal scope for advance planning but did not support obligatory lexical retrieval beyond the sentence-initial noun. This research represents the first direct experimental comparison of sentence planning in speech and writing.

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Cognitive Load Affects Speech Motor Performance Differently in Older and Younger Adults

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2018_jslhr-s-17-0222 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 62 (5) ◽

pp. 1258-1277 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Megan K. MacPherson

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Load ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Age Groups ◽

Incongruent Condition ◽

Sentence Production ◽

Movement Duration ◽

Production Task ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Speech Motor

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive load imposed by a speech production task on the speech motor performance of healthy older and younger adults. Response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory were the primary cognitive processes of interest.MethodTwelve healthy older and 12 healthy younger adults produced multiple repetitions of 4 sentences containing an embedded Stroop task in 2 cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. The incongruent condition, which required participants to suppress orthographic information to say the font colors in which color words were written, represented an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which word text and font color matched. Kinematic measures of articulatory coordination variability and movement duration as well as a behavioral measure of sentence production accuracy were compared between groups and conditions and across 3 sentence segments (pre-, during-, and post-Stroop).ResultsIncreased cognitive load in the incongruent condition was associated with increased articulatory coordination variability and movement duration, compared to the congruent Stroop condition, for both age groups. Overall, the effect of increased cognitive load was greater for older adults than younger adults and was greatest in the portion of the sentence in which cognitive load was manipulated (during-Stroop), followed by the pre-Stroop segment. Sentence production accuracy was reduced for older adults in the incongruent condition.ConclusionsIncreased cognitive load involving response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory processes within a speech production task disrupted both the stability and timing with which speech was produced by both age groups. Older adults' speech motor performance may have been more affected due to age-related changes in cognitive and motoric functions that result in altered motor cognition.

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Treatment for Progressive Impairments of Language

Perspectives on Neurophysiology and Neurogenic Speech and Language Disorders ◽

10.1044/nnsld20.1.13 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 13-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maya Henry

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Treatment ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Sentence Production ◽

Lexical Retrieval ◽

Functional Communication ◽

Language Performance ◽

Communication Techniques ◽

Primary Object ◽

Behavioral Treatments ◽

Treatment Research

Abstract Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a relatively new diagnostic entity, for which few behavioral treatments have been investigated. Recent work has helped to clarify the nature of distinct PPA variants, including a nonfluent variant (NFV-PPA), a logopenic variant (LV-PPA), and a semantic variant (SV-PPA). This paper reviews treatment research to date in each subtype of PPA, including restitutive, augmentative, and functional approaches. The evidence suggests that restitutive behavioral treatment can result in improved or stabilized language performance within treated domains. Specifically, sentence production and lexical retrieval have been addressed in NFV-PPA, whereas lexical retrieval has been the primary object of treatment in LV and SV-PPA. Use of augmentative communication techniques, as well as implementation of functional communication approaches, also may result in improved communication skills in individuals with PPA. The ideal treatment approach may be one that combines restitutive, augmentative, and functional approaches to treatment, in order to maximize residual cognitive-linguistic skills in patients. Additional research is warranted to determine which modes of treatment are most beneficial in each type of PPA at various stages of severity.

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