scholarly journals Speech Perception: Phonological Neighborhood Effects on Word Recognition Persist Despite Semantic Sentence Context

2019 ◽  
Vol 126 (6) ◽  
pp. 1047-1057
Author(s):  
Teresa Cervera-Crespo ◽  
Julio González-Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Neighborhood Effects ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Sentence Context ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Neighborhood Frequency ◽  
Frequency Occurrence ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood ◽  
Linear Logistic Model ◽  
Target Words

This study tested the hypothesis that two lexical properties, both phonological neighborhood density (ND) and neighborhood frequency (NF), influence the recognition of target words when preceded by either a semantically congruent or semantically neutral context. Our study is the first to test this hypothesis using a language other than English (i.e., Spanish). We used highly familiar bisyllabic nouns with medium-frequency occurrence as target words, and we expected recognition accuracy to increase as ND and NF decreased in both semanticallly congruent and semantically neutral sentences. We presented 48 undergraduate listeners with a set of 80 words, differing in ND and NF, within these two sentence contexts (i.e., 160 sentences). We then tested the relationships between ND, NF, and variations in semantic sentence context within a linear logistic model and found that words with a low frequency of neighbors were more likely to be correctly recognized in both sentence contexts. Thus, during word recognition, the influence of phonological competition outweighed semantic sentence context even when words were presented in Spanish.

The Sound of Enemies and Friends in the Neighborhood

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 454-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Pecher ◽  
Inge Boot ◽  
Saskia van Dantzig ◽  
Carol J. Madden ◽  
David E. Huber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Visual Word Recognition ◽  
Neighborhood Effects ◽  
Classification Performance ◽  
Visual Word ◽  
Orthographic Neighborhood ◽  
Semantic Classification ◽  
Semantic Class ◽  
Orthographic Neighbors ◽  
Target Words

Previous studies (e.g., Pecher, Zeelenberg, & Wagenmakers, 2005) found that semantic classification performance is better for target words with orthographic neighbors that are mostly from the same semantic class (e.g., living) compared to target words with orthographic neighbors that are mostly from the opposite semantic class (e.g., nonliving). In the present study we investigated the contribution of phonology to orthographic neighborhood effects by comparing effects of phonologically congruent orthographic neighbors (book-hook) to phonologically incongruent orthographic neighbors (sand-wand). The prior presentation of a semantically congruent word produced larger effects on subsequent animacy decisions when the previously presented word was a phonologically congruent neighbor than when it was a phonologically incongruent neighbor. In a second experiment, performance differences between target words with versus without semantically congruent orthographic neighbors were larger if the orthographic neighbors were also phonologically congruent. These results support models of visual word recognition that assume an important role for phonology in cascaded access to meaning.

scholarly journals The Effect of Phonological Neighborhood Density on Vowel Articulation

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1048-1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Munson ◽  
Nancy Pearl Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Vowel Production ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood Density ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood

Recent literature suggests that phonological neighborhood density and word frequency can affect speech production, in addition to the well-documented effects that they have on speech perception. This article describes 2 experiments that examined how phonological neighborhood density influences the durations and formant frequencies of adults’ productions of vowels in real words. In Experiment 1, 10 normal speakers produced words that covaried in phonological neighborhood density and word frequency. Infrequent words with many phonological neighbors were produced with shorter durations and more expanded vowel spaces than frequent words with few phonological neighbors. Results of this experiment confirmed that this effect was not related to the duration of the vowels constituting the high- and low-density words. In Experiment 2, 15 adults produced words that varied in both word frequency and neighborhood density. Neighborhood density affected vowel articulation in both high- and low-frequency words. Moreover, frequent words were produced with more contracted vowel spaces than infrequent words. There was no interaction between these factors, and the vowel duration did not vary as a function of neighborhood density. Taken together, the results suggest that neighborhood density affects vowel production independent of word frequency and vowel duration.

Input effects in the acquisition of verb inflection: Evidence from Emirati Arabic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Marta SZREDER ◽  
Laura E. DE RUITER ◽  
Dimitrios NTELITHEOS
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Input Frequency ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood Density ◽  
Token Frequency ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Verb Inflection ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood

Abstract This study investigates the acquisition of the Imperfective verb inflection paradigm in Emirati Arabic (EA), to determine whether the learning process is sensitive to the phonological and typological properties of the input. We collected data from 48 participants aged 2;7 to 5;9 years, using an elicited production paradigm. Input frequencies of inflectional contexts, verb types and tokens were obtained from corpora of child-directed and adult EA. Children's accuracy was inversely related to the input frequency of inflectional contexts, but not related to type and token frequency or phonological neighborhood density. Token frequency interacted with age, such that younger children performed considerably worse on low-frequency tokens, but older children performed equally well on high- and low-frequency tokens. We conclude that learning is input-driven, but that a sufficiently regular paradigm allows children to eventually generalise across all items earlier than in previously studied European languages.

scholarly journals What is in the neighborhood of a tonal syllable? Evidence from auditory lexical decision in Mandarin Chinese

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Yao ◽  
Bhamini Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Neighborhood Effects ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Phonetic Variation ◽  
Auditory Lexical Decision ◽  
The One ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood

Phonological neighborhood effects have been found in spoken word recognition, word production and phonetic variation (Gahl, Yao, & Johnson, 2012; Luce & Pisoni, 1998; Vitevitch, 2002). Overall, words from dense neighborhoods are harder to recognize but easier to produce. However, most previous studies have focused on English, while evidence suggests that these effects may not generalize cross-linguistically due to language-specific configurations of the lexicon (Michael S Vitevitch & Stamer, 2006, 2009). In the current study, we investigate the effects of phonological neighborhoods in Mandarin Chinese, which has a vastly different lexicon structure from that of English. Results from an auditory lexical decision experiment showed that phonological neighborhood density and neighbor frequency (defined by the one-phoneme/tone difference rule) are predictive of the speed and accuracy of lexical decision. Homophone density also has a facilitative effect on the accuracy of lexical decision. The implications of the current findings are discussed in the framework of the lexicon model proposed by Zhou & Marslen-Wilson (1994, 2009).

Sentence context effects in bilingual word recognition: Cognate status, sentence language, and semantic constraint

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
TON DIJKSTRA ◽  
JANET G. VAN HELL ◽  
PASCAL BRENDERS
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Target Word ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Sentence Context ◽  
Semantic Constraint ◽  
Mixed Language ◽  
Target Words

In two lexical decision experiments, we investigated how sentence language affects the bilingual's recognition of target words from the same or a different language. Dutch–English bilinguals read Dutch (L1) or English (L2) sentences, presented word by word, followed by English (Experiment 1) or Dutch (Experiment 2) target words. Targets were Dutch–English cognates or non-cognates in isolation or preceded by sentences providing a high or a low semantic constraint. English cognates were facilitated irrespective of whether they were preceded by high or low constraining English sentences (no language switch) or Dutch sentences (switch). For Dutch cognates, inhibition effects arose in low constraining sentences (irrespective of Dutch or English) and in English (switch) sentences (irrespective of semantic constraint). Thus, under mixed language conditions, sentence constraint modulates target word processing but does not always completely eliminate cross-linguistic effects. The results are interpreted in a BIA+ model that extends monolingual views on sentence comprehension.

Predicting Word-Recognition Performance in Noise by Young Listeners with Normal Hearing Using Acoustic, Phonetic, and Lexical Variables

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (06) ◽  
pp. 507-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel McArdle ◽  
Richard H. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Monosyllabic Word ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Neighborhood Frequency ◽  
Word Familiarity ◽  
Speech Recognition In Noise

Purpose: To analyze the 50% correct recognition data that were from the Wilson et al (this issue) study and that were obtained from 24 listeners with normal hearing; also to examine whether acoustic, phonetic, or lexical variables can predict recognition performance for monosyllabic words presented in speech-spectrum noise. Research Design: The specific variables are as follows: (a) acoustic variables (i.e., effective root-mean-square sound pressure level, duration), (b) phonetic variables (i.e., consonant features such as manner, place, and voicing for initial and final phonemes; vowel phonemes), and (c) lexical variables (i.e., word frequency, word familiarity, neighborhood density, neighborhood frequency). Data Collection and Analysis: The descriptive, correlational study will examine the influence of acoustic, phonetic, and lexical variables on speech recognition in noise performance. Results: Regression analysis demonstrated that 45% of the variance in the 50% point was accounted for by acoustic and phonetic variables whereas only 3% of the variance was accounted for by lexical variables. These findings suggest that monosyllabic word-recognition-in-noise is more dependent on bottom-up processing than on top-down processing. Conclusions: The results suggest that when speech-in-noise testing is used in a pre- and post-hearing-aid-fitting format, the use of monosyllabic words may be sensitive to changes in audibility resulting from amplification.

Successful Implicit Vocabulary Intervention for Three Cantonese-Speaking Toddlers: A Replicated Single-Case Design

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4148-4161
Author(s):  
Christine S.-Y. Ng ◽  
Stephanie F. Stokes ◽  
Mary Alt
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Single Case Design ◽  
Vocabulary Intervention ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood Density ◽  
Phonological Neighborhood ◽  
And Control ◽  
Case Design

Purpose We report on a replicated single-case design study that measured the feasibility of an expressive vocabulary intervention for three Cantonese-speaking toddlers with small expressive lexicons relative to their age. The aim was to assess the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic feasibility of an intervention method developed for English-speaking children. Method A nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design was used with four baseline data points and 16 intervention sessions per participant. The intervention design incorporated implicit learning principles, high treatment dosage, and control of the phonological neighborhood density of the stimuli. The children (24–39 months) attended 7–9 weeks of twice weekly input-based treatment in which no explicit verbal production was required from the child. Each target word was provided as input a minimum of 64 times in at least two intervention sessions. Treatment feasibility was measured by comparison of how many of the target and control words the child produced across the intervention period, and parent-reported expressive vocabulary checklists were completed for comparison of pre- and postintervention child spoken vocabulary size. An omnibus effect size for the treatment effect of the number of target and control words produced across time was calculated using Kendall's Tau. Results There was a significant treatment effect for target words learned in intervention relative to baselines, and all children produced significantly more target than control words across the intervention period. The effect of phonological neighborhood density on expressive word production could not be evaluated because two of the three children learned all target words. Conclusion The results provide cross-cultural evidence of the feasibility of a model of intervention that incorporated a high-dosage, cross-situational statistical learning paradigm to teach spoken word production to children with small expressive lexicons.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document