Psycholinguistics
Language as an interface
Human intelligence discovered a
way of perpetuating itself,one
not only more durable and more
resistant than architecture,but
also simpler and easier.
-Victor Hugo
Language processing is a hugely complex computational task…
? Other intelligent critters (e.g.,chimps,gorillas)
fail to learn language except at the most
rudimentary levels
? Computers fail miserably
? (Scientists still don’t understand fully how we do it)
But using language only seems easy!
Language processing is hugely complex computational task,yet…
? Every normal human child in every culture acquires
sophisticated linguistic competence before the age of 5
? This learning occurs simply by exposure to language,
and does not require explicit instruction (unlike
reading or math)
? And,it can emerge spontaneously in children with
minimal linguistic exposure
But using language only seems easy!
Production…
,Why did Ken set the soggy net on top of his deck?”
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? …s peaking
,Why did Ken set the soggy net on top of his deck?”
1,Select words that will express the concept
? soggy vs,wet; deck vs,patio; set vs,put
2,Arrange them into the appropriate phrases
? …set the net on his deck NOT
…set the deck on his net
3,Look up and arrange their sound structure
? soggy net NOT noggy set
4,Add appropriate prosody
? WHY did ken…vs,why DID ken…vs,why did KEN…
5,Code the final product in motor commands
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? … comprehending
A six word sentence
But using language only seems easy!
How complex?
Word boundaries are not evident in the acoustic waveform
But using language only seems easy!
How complex?
Phoneme boundaries are also very fuzzy!
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? … comprehending
The WHITE house is under attack,(physically)
The WHITE house is under attack,(metaphorically)
The white HOUSE is under attack,(phys or metaph)
The white house is under a tack,
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? … comprehending
Ambiguity is pervasive in language:
Visiting relatives can be boring
I saw the man with binoculars
The stuffy nose vs,The stuff he knows
But using language only seems easy!
Ambiguity in newspaper headlines:
Child’s Stool Great for Use in Garden
Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped
Complaints About NBA Referees Growing Ugly
Huge breast study
How complex? … comprehending
But using language only seems easy!
Speech perception/comprehension
Perception of phonemes (“speech perception”)
? There is not a distinct acoustic pattern associated
with each phoneme (“lack of invariance problem”)
? Different acoustic patterns can be heard as the same
phoneme
? The same acoustic pattern can be heard as different
phonemes depending on the context
? Perception tends to be categorical
V O T c o n t i n u u m d a - t a
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1 0 0
0 5 10 20 30
V o i c e o n s e t t i m e de l ay ( m s e c )
%
'
d
a
'
r
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
s
Categorical perception
V O T c o n t in u u m d a - t a
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1 0 0
0 5 10 20 30
V o i c e o n s e t t im e de l ay ( m s e c )
%
'
d
a
'
r
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
s
If is were non-categorical it would
look like this:
Speech perception/comprehension
Word recognition
? Ambiguity is the problem
? Whole word ambiguity,bark,plant,bug
? Onset ambiguity (spoken words only):,su…”
?(we know words are recognized before they end)
? Access multiple meanings/words? Or only one?
? Do we use context to guide our lexical access? or
only to help decide which to discard?
The man found several spiders,roaches,and other bugs in the
corner of the room.
Speech perception/comprehension
Sentence processing
? Ambiguity is again the problem
? I saw the man with binoculars
? Construct multiple structures? Or only one?
? Do we use context to guide our selection as to
which structure to build? Or only to help decide
which to discard?
I was instructed to look for either a man with a telescope,or a
man with binoculars,I saw the man with binoculars
Speech production
Message source
Speech articulation
Select words Construct phrases
Insert sound
structureAdd inflection
Insert prosodic
structure
Are these separate
levels of
processing?
Or handled in one
big translation
process?
Speech production
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Lots of different varieties:
Anticipations,cuff of coffee (cup of coffee)
Perseverations,gave the goy (gave the boy)
Exchanges,teep a cape (keep a tape)
with this wing I do red
cassy put (pussy cat)
piss and stretch (stress and pitch)
…
*note,don’t plan just one word at a time!
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Slips occur among several different sized units:
? Phrases,I wouldn’t buy kids for the macadamia nuts
? Words,I have to fill up the gas with car,
? Morphemes,Oh,that’s just a back trucking out,
? Syllables,canpakes (pancakes),butterpiller and catterfly
? Phonemes,fost and lound (lost and found); we’re going to
have to fart very fide (fight very hard)
? Features,mity the due teacher (pity the new teacher; nasal-
stop exchange)
*suggests that speech planning is carried out a several different
levels of analysis
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Slips can provide information about the order of these
planning stages:
?,Phonetic conditioning” applies appropriately after slips take
place; thus conditioning occurs after phonol,insertion
?A meeting arathon (an eating marathon)
?Add up/s/ to (add/z/ up to)
? Syllabic stress patterns are modified to accommodate the
slipped syllable pattern; thus stress assignment must follow
?Cómputated (compúted)
? Phrasal stress is unaffected by slips of stressed elements (ie,
stress doesn’t slip with the words)
?Stop beating your BRICK against a head wall
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Slips can provide information about the size and structure
of planning units at the various stages:
? Sound exchanges tend to occur within a clause
? Word exchanges can occur across clausal boundaries
? Sound exchanges respect syllable structure,onsets exchange
with onsets,rhymes with rhymes,etc.,
? Sound exchanges do not respect grammatical form class of
words,sounds can exchange between nouns & verbs,etc.
? Word exchanges tend to respect grammatical form class,when
exchanges cross phrasal boundaries,but not when they occur
within a clause
Speech production
Message source
Speech articulation
Construct global hierarchical sentence
structure & link to lexical-semantic items
Order of items in phrases are filled out in
phonologically and morphologically
Phonetic conditioning
Phrasal exchanges,cross-
phrase word exchanges
Sound,morphological,&
within-phrase word
exchanges
Language as an interface
Human intelligence discovered a
way of perpetuating itself,one
not only more durable and more
resistant than architecture,but
also simpler and easier.
-Victor Hugo
Language processing is a hugely complex computational task…
? Other intelligent critters (e.g.,chimps,gorillas)
fail to learn language except at the most
rudimentary levels
? Computers fail miserably
? (Scientists still don’t understand fully how we do it)
But using language only seems easy!
Language processing is hugely complex computational task,yet…
? Every normal human child in every culture acquires
sophisticated linguistic competence before the age of 5
? This learning occurs simply by exposure to language,
and does not require explicit instruction (unlike
reading or math)
? And,it can emerge spontaneously in children with
minimal linguistic exposure
But using language only seems easy!
Production…
,Why did Ken set the soggy net on top of his deck?”
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? …s peaking
,Why did Ken set the soggy net on top of his deck?”
1,Select words that will express the concept
? soggy vs,wet; deck vs,patio; set vs,put
2,Arrange them into the appropriate phrases
? …set the net on his deck NOT
…set the deck on his net
3,Look up and arrange their sound structure
? soggy net NOT noggy set
4,Add appropriate prosody
? WHY did ken…vs,why DID ken…vs,why did KEN…
5,Code the final product in motor commands
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? … comprehending
A six word sentence
But using language only seems easy!
How complex?
Word boundaries are not evident in the acoustic waveform
But using language only seems easy!
How complex?
Phoneme boundaries are also very fuzzy!
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? … comprehending
The WHITE house is under attack,(physically)
The WHITE house is under attack,(metaphorically)
The white HOUSE is under attack,(phys or metaph)
The white house is under a tack,
But using language only seems easy!
How complex? … comprehending
Ambiguity is pervasive in language:
Visiting relatives can be boring
I saw the man with binoculars
The stuffy nose vs,The stuff he knows
But using language only seems easy!
Ambiguity in newspaper headlines:
Child’s Stool Great for Use in Garden
Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped
Complaints About NBA Referees Growing Ugly
Huge breast study
How complex? … comprehending
But using language only seems easy!
Speech perception/comprehension
Perception of phonemes (“speech perception”)
? There is not a distinct acoustic pattern associated
with each phoneme (“lack of invariance problem”)
? Different acoustic patterns can be heard as the same
phoneme
? The same acoustic pattern can be heard as different
phonemes depending on the context
? Perception tends to be categorical
V O T c o n t i n u u m d a - t a
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1 0 0
0 5 10 20 30
V o i c e o n s e t t i m e de l ay ( m s e c )
%
'
d
a
'
r
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
s
Categorical perception
V O T c o n t in u u m d a - t a
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1 0 0
0 5 10 20 30
V o i c e o n s e t t im e de l ay ( m s e c )
%
'
d
a
'
r
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
s
If is were non-categorical it would
look like this:
Speech perception/comprehension
Word recognition
? Ambiguity is the problem
? Whole word ambiguity,bark,plant,bug
? Onset ambiguity (spoken words only):,su…”
?(we know words are recognized before they end)
? Access multiple meanings/words? Or only one?
? Do we use context to guide our lexical access? or
only to help decide which to discard?
The man found several spiders,roaches,and other bugs in the
corner of the room.
Speech perception/comprehension
Sentence processing
? Ambiguity is again the problem
? I saw the man with binoculars
? Construct multiple structures? Or only one?
? Do we use context to guide our selection as to
which structure to build? Or only to help decide
which to discard?
I was instructed to look for either a man with a telescope,or a
man with binoculars,I saw the man with binoculars
Speech production
Message source
Speech articulation
Select words Construct phrases
Insert sound
structureAdd inflection
Insert prosodic
structure
Are these separate
levels of
processing?
Or handled in one
big translation
process?
Speech production
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Lots of different varieties:
Anticipations,cuff of coffee (cup of coffee)
Perseverations,gave the goy (gave the boy)
Exchanges,teep a cape (keep a tape)
with this wing I do red
cassy put (pussy cat)
piss and stretch (stress and pitch)
…
*note,don’t plan just one word at a time!
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Slips occur among several different sized units:
? Phrases,I wouldn’t buy kids for the macadamia nuts
? Words,I have to fill up the gas with car,
? Morphemes,Oh,that’s just a back trucking out,
? Syllables,canpakes (pancakes),butterpiller and catterfly
? Phonemes,fost and lound (lost and found); we’re going to
have to fart very fide (fight very hard)
? Features,mity the due teacher (pity the new teacher; nasal-
stop exchange)
*suggests that speech planning is carried out a several different
levels of analysis
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Slips can provide information about the order of these
planning stages:
?,Phonetic conditioning” applies appropriately after slips take
place; thus conditioning occurs after phonol,insertion
?A meeting arathon (an eating marathon)
?Add up/s/ to (add/z/ up to)
? Syllabic stress patterns are modified to accommodate the
slipped syllable pattern; thus stress assignment must follow
?Cómputated (compúted)
? Phrasal stress is unaffected by slips of stressed elements (ie,
stress doesn’t slip with the words)
?Stop beating your BRICK against a head wall
Slips of the tongue as clues to the process of speech
production
Slips can provide information about the size and structure
of planning units at the various stages:
? Sound exchanges tend to occur within a clause
? Word exchanges can occur across clausal boundaries
? Sound exchanges respect syllable structure,onsets exchange
with onsets,rhymes with rhymes,etc.,
? Sound exchanges do not respect grammatical form class of
words,sounds can exchange between nouns & verbs,etc.
? Word exchanges tend to respect grammatical form class,when
exchanges cross phrasal boundaries,but not when they occur
within a clause
Speech production
Message source
Speech articulation
Construct global hierarchical sentence
structure & link to lexical-semantic items
Order of items in phrases are filled out in
phonologically and morphologically
Phonetic conditioning
Phrasal exchanges,cross-
phrase word exchanges
Sound,morphological,&
within-phrase word
exchanges
