Week 6

PSY 417 Week 6 Participation Notes
Topics:
Learning Outcomes:
1. Describe basic properties of speech and the human speech perception system
2. Compare and contrast the major theories of speech perception
3. Describe basic properties of the speech production system
4. Compare and contrast spoken language, signed language, and gesture
5. Describe the difference between amodal and embodied approaches to meaning
Examples of achieving the learning outcomes (write out more examples for yourself)
(1) Auditory processing begins when sound waves enter the ear. After traveling along
the auditory canal to the eardrum, ossicles (three small bones) in the middle ear
vibrate to amplify the sound. In the cochlea, hair cells along the basilar membrane
convert the sound to electrical signal that gets transmitted to the brain ...
(2) Both motor theory and embodied theory of speech perception hypothesize that
there is a close link between speech perception and production systems. By contrast
the auditory theory of speech perception hypothesizes that speech perception comes
from general properties of the auditory system (with little to do with the speech
production system). ...
(3) There are several systems involved in speech production. The respiratory system
provides support for speech, and includes muscles like the diaphragm that provide the
power to generate enough pressure for speech production. The resonatory system
regulates airflow as it moves from the pharynx (at the back of the throat) through the
oral and nasal cavities. It can change the acoustic properties of how speech sounds by
changing the configuration of the vocal tract. The articulatory system involves both
stable and moving articulators that move or form points of contact to produce speech
sounds.
(4) According to some theories, gestures can be organized along a continuum. At one
end, gestures can become language (as in sign languages like ASL), and at the other
end, gesticulations are gestures that co-occur with spoken language. Gesticulations,
which encompass the majority of gestures that people use, might be tightly interwoven
with language, but have their own, separate structure. ...
(5) Amodal / symbolic approaches to meaning say that words are linked to abstract,
amodal symbols... On this view, meaning is static, meaning it has a single abstract
symbol associated with it... By contrast, on the embodied cognition view, meaning
relates to ....

Practice Exam Questions
1. Which empirical finding is consistent with the motor theory of speech perception?
a. There is a close link between perception + production systems
b. Some properties of of speech perception (e.g., categorical perception) rely on
properties of the auditory system
c. Speech perception recruits areas of the brain involved in motor control of the
tongue, lips, etc. – not a domain-specific module in the brain
d. Speech perception doesn’t seem to be innate or species-specific
2. Which of these parts of the ear is primarily responsible for converting mechanical
sound to an electrical signal?
a. auditory canal
b. cochlea
c. eardrum
d. pinna
3. Tonotopic organization is found in...
a. primary auditory cortex
b. the basilar membrane
c. the cochlea
d. all of the above
4. Intracranial recordings show that phonetic features (e.g., manner of articulation)
are represented in...
a. Left inferior frontal gyrus
b. Superior temporal gyrus
c. Premotor cortex
d. Superior temporal sulcus
5. Which theory proposes speech perception is specific to humans?
a. Auditory theory of speech perception
b. Motor theory of speech perception
c. Embodied theory of speech perception
d. All of the above
6. According to the dual stream theory of speech, the “what” pathway is found in...
a. The ventral stream
b. The dorsal stream
c. The anterior stream
d. The posterior stream

7. Your friend flashes you a peace sign. How would you classify this gesture
according to Kendon's continuum?
a. Gesticulation
b. Emblem
c. Pantomime
d. Sign language
8. Match the speech production term on the left with the appropriate description on
the right (match each term with a single letter).
___ Resonatory system a. Primary muscle of inspiration
___ Articulatory system b. Provides breathing support for speech
___ Respiratory system c. Nasal, oral, and pharyngeal cavities
___ Diaphragm d. Regulates the vibration of airflow
___ Larynx e. Regulates quality of voice, intonation
___ Vocal tract f. Manipulates outgoing airflow using the articulators
9. Provide examples (either from class or ones that you make up) for each of the
following types of speech errors:
Word substitution:
Word blend:
Word exchange:
Speech sound anticipation:
Speech sound perseveration:
Speech sound exchanges (spoonerisms):
10. Which types of gestures exhibit properties that are least like language?
11. According to Collins and Quillian’s hierarchical model of meaning, would it take
longer to verify that a dog is an animal or that a pug is an animal? Would it take
longer to verify that a dog barks or that a pug barks?