Word recognition

Question 1

Womb learning who?

Answer 1

Moon et al. 2013

Question 2

Womb learning what?

Answer 2

30 hour old babies were showed vowels in their mothers language and vowels in other languages

Question 2

Womb learning what language was mothers tongue

Answer 2

Swedish or english

Question 2

Womb learning findings

Answer 2

babies sucked their dummies harder when listening to a foreign language, shows they learn some speech in the womb

Question 2

characteristics of what makes word recognition difficult

Answer 2

segmentation problem
invariance problem

Question 2

segmentation problem

Answer 2

speech is a continuous stream of sound with no white space between words.

Question 3

segmentation problem (2) solutions

Answer 3

possible word constraint (norris et al 1997)
Stress (cutler and butterfield 1992)

Question 4

possible word constraint (norris et al 1997)

Answer 4

Fapple vs Wuffapple, any segmentation that results in impossible words is likely rejected (eg fapple)

Question 5

Stress (cutler and butterfield 1992)

Answer 5

first syllable is typically stressed. Conduct ascents uphill hears as doctor sends the bill

Question 6

The invarience problem

Answer 6

speech sounds are shaped by external factors

Question 7

Co-atriculation

Answer 7

letters can be pronounced different such as e in mercedes or b in bill ball bull and bell.
“lean, bacon, lean bacon”

Question 8

what causes coarticulation

Answer 8

dialect, speech rate and accent

Question 9

context effects

Answer 9

knowledge about the contect in which a word occurs can help word recognition
semantics, syntax, etc.

Question 10

Phenome restoration effect who?

Answer 10

warren and warren 1970

Question 11

Phenome restoration effect what

Answer 11

audio on slide 10; was there a phenome missing “the state governers met with their respective legislatures convening in the capital city.”

Question 12

Phenome restoration effect example (2)

Answer 12

It was found that the *eel was on the orange
It was found that the *eel was on the axle
It was found that the *eel was on the shoe
It was found that the *eel was on the table
peel, wheel, heel, meal

Question 13

theories of spoken word recognition

Answer 13

TRACE AND COHORT - most prominenet models

Question 14

TRACE who

Answer 14

McClelland and Elman 1986

Question 15

TRACE what?

Answer 15

3 layers - word units, phoneme units, feature units,

Question 16

Q: How does information flow in the TRACE model?

Answer 16

A: Information flows both bottom-up (from features to words) and top-down (from words to features).

Question 17

Q: What happens during word recognition in the TRACE model?

Answer 17

A: Words compete for recognition based on their similarity to the input, and activation levels change dynamically as speech unfolds.

Question 18

Q: How does context influence word recognition in the TRACE model?

Answer 18

A: Higher-level context can activate or suppress certain word candidates, influencing recognition.

Question 19

Q: How does the TRACE model handle continuous speech?

Answer 19

A: The model recognizes words in continuous speech without explicit word boundaries, using dynamic competition and activation processes.

Question 20

A criticism of TRACE

Answer 20

TRACE overestimates the influence of context
and predicts top-down effects where they do not
exist

Question 21

A criticism of trace cont.

Answer 21

Frauenfelder et al. (1990): TRACE predicts it’s hard to
detect /t/ in (French) nonword vocabutaire because
of the similar real word vocabulaire. Data did not
support prediction.

Question 22

Cohort model who?

Answer 22

Marlsen Wilson 1984

Question 23

Q: What is the “initial cohort” in the Cohort Model?

Answer 23

A: The initial cohort is the group of words activated based on the initial sounds of the spoken word.

Question 24

Q: How does the Cohort Model narrow down possible words?

Answer 24

A: As more speech input is processed, words that no longer match the input are eliminated from the cohort.

Question 25

Q: What is the “uniqueness point” in the Cohort Model?

Answer 25

A: The uniqueness point is the moment when only one word matches the incoming speech input.

Question 26

Q: How does context affect word recognition in the Cohort Model?

Answer 26

A: Context can influence cohort activation or elimination by providing semantic or syntactic cues.

Question 27

Q: How does the Cohort Model differ from the TRACE model in processing?

Answer 27

A: The Cohort Model uses a step-by-step narrowing of candidates (serial processing), while TRACE uses interactive, parallel processing.

Question 28

Q: How does the Cohort Model handle continuous speech?

Answer 28

A: It continuously updates the cohort as speech input unfolds, parsing overlapping signals in real time.

Question 29

Q: What factors influence word selection in the original Cohort Model?

Answer 29

A: Word selection is influenced by the auditory input and semantic/syntactic context

Question 30

Q: How can context affect word recognition in the original model?

Answer 30

A: Context can allow a word to be recognized before its uniqueness point by supporting a single candidate in the cohort.

Question 31

Q: What issue does the original model face with mispronunciations?

Answer 31

A: Words with mispronounced initial phonemes (e.g., “focabulaire” for “vocabulaire”) should not be recognized, but evidence shows they can still be.

Question 32

Q: How does the revised Cohort Model handle semantic context?

Answer 32

A: Semantic context no longer influences the early stages, making the model more bottom-up.

Question 33

Q: How are words managed in the revised model if they mismatch the input?

Answer 33

A: Words are not eliminated but have reduced activation, allowing revival if new evidence supports them.

Question 34

flashcard 6: Evidence for the Revised Model
Q: What evidence supports the revised model’s handling of mispronunciations?

Answer 34

A: Hearing “focabulaire” can still activate “vocabulaire” (Frauenfelder et al., 2001), showing mispronounced words are not fully excluded.

Question 35

Q: What did Zwitserlood (1989) find about semantic context in the revised model?

Answer 35

A: Semantic context does not influence which words remain in or leave the cohort of candidates.