PSY 369: Psycholinguistics

1. PSY 369: Psycholinguistics Language Production: Theories & Models

2. Announcements • Homework 6 (Due April 24) • Try to be vigilant for four or five days in noting speech errors made by yourself and others. Write each slip down (carry a small notebook and pencil with you). Then, when you have accumulated a reasonably size sample (aim for 20 to 30, but don't panic if you don't get that many), try to classify each slip in terms of • the unit(s) involved • the type of error • Remember that each error may be interpreted in different ways. For some of them, see if you can come up with more than one possibility.

3. From thought to speech • General Model of Language Production • What do speech errors suggest? • Fromkin (1971) • Garrett (1975) • (And experiments too) Jane threw the ball to Bill

4. Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation From thought to speech Message level • General Model of Language Production • Ordered sequence of independent planning units • Four levels of processing are typically proposed • Typically they are ordered this way (but there is debate about the independence of the different levels) • Note the similarity to models of comprehension

5. Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation From thought to speech Message level • Propositions to be communicated • Selection and organization of lexical items • Morphologically complex words are constructed • Sound structure of each word is built

6. From thought to speech Message level • Propositions to be communicated • Not a lot known about this step • Typically thought to be shared with comprehension processes, semantic networks, situational models, etc. Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

7. From thought to speech Message level • Grammatical class constraint • Most substitutions, exchanges, and blends involve words of the same grammatical class • Slots and frames • A syntactic framework is constructed, and then lexical items are inserted into the slots Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

8. From thought to speech Rachel Emily Ross It was such a happy moment when Ross kissed Rachel…

9. From thought to speech Rachel Emily Ross … Oops! I mean “kissed Emily.”

10. SYNTACTIC FRAME S NP VP N V(past) N From thought to speech • LEXICON • ROSS • KISS • EMILY • RACHEL Spreading activation

11. SYNTACTIC FRAME S NP VP N V(past) N From thought to speech • Grammatical class constraint: • LEXICON • ROSS • KISS • EMILY • RACHEL If the word isn’t the right grammatical class, it won’t “fit” into the slot.

12. From thought to speech Message level • Grammatical class constraint • Most substitutions, exchanges, and blends involve words of the same grammatical class • Slots and frames • A syntactic framework is constructed, and then lexical items are inserted into the slots • Other evidence • Syntactic priming Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

13. Syntactic priming • Bock (1986): syntactic persistance tested by picture naming Hear and repeat a sentence Describe the picture

14. Syntactic priming • a: The ghost sold the werewolf a flower • Bock (1986): syntactic persistance tested by picture naming • b: The ghost sold a flower to the werewolf • a: The girl gave the teacher the flowers • b: The girl gave the flowers to the teacher

15. Syntactic priming • In real life, syntactic priming seems to occur as well • Branigan, Pickering, & Cleland (2000): • Speakers tend to reuse syntactic constructions of other speakers • Potter & Lombardi (1998): • Speakers tend to reuse syntactic constructions of just read materials

16. From thought to speech Message level • Stranding errors I liked he would hope you I hoped he would like you • The inflection stayed in the same location, the stems moved • Inflections tend to stay in their proper place • Do not typically see errors like The beeing are buzzes The bees are buzzing Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

17. From thought to speech Message level • Stranding errors • Closed class items very rare in exchanges or substitutions • Two possibilities • Part of syntactic frame • High frequency, so lots of practice, easily selected, etc. Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

18. From thought to speech Message level • Consonant vowel regularity • Consonants slip with other consonants, vowels with vowels, but rarely do consonants slip with vowels • The implication is that vowels and consonants represent different kinds of units in phonological planning Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

19. From thought to speech Message level • Consonant vowel regularity • Frame and slots in syllables • Similar to the slots and frames we discussed with syntax Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

20. From thought to speech PHONOLOGICAL FRAME Word • LEXICON • /d/, C • /g/, C • , V Syllable Onset Rhyme C V C

21. From thought to speech Message level • Consonant vowel regularity • Frame and slots in syllables • Evidence for the separation of meaning and sound Syntactic level • Tip of the tongue • Picture-word interference Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation

22. Tip-of-the-tongue An instrument used by navigators for measuring the angular distance of the sun, a star, etc. from the horizon

23. Tip-of-the-tongue • TOT • Meaning access • No (little) phonological access • What about syntax? Uhh… It is a.. You know.. A.. Arggg. I can almost see it, it has two Syllables, I think it starts with A …..

24. Tip-of-the-tongue • “The rhythm of the lost word may be there without the sound to clothe it; or the evanescent sense of something which is the initial vowel or consonant may mock us fitfully, without growing more distinct.” (James, 1890, p. 251) Videos 1 | 2

25. Tip-of-the-tongue • Low-frequency words (e.g., apse, nepotism, sampan), prompted by brief definitions. • On 8.5% of trials, tip-of-the-tongue state ensued: • Had to guess: • word's first or last letters • the number of syllables it contained • which syllable was stressed • Brown & McNeill (1966)

26. Tip-of-the-tongue • Total of 360 TOT states: • 233 ="positive TOTs" (subject was thinking of target word, and produced scorable data • 127 = "negative TOTs" (subject was thinking of other word, but could not recall it) • 224 similar-sound TOTs (e.g., Saipan for sampan) • 48% had the same number of syllables as the target • 95 similar-meaning TOTs (e.g., houseboat for sampan). • 20% had same number of syllables as target.  • Brown & McNeill (1966)

27. Tip-of-the-tongue • Similar words come to mind about half the time • but how much is just guessing? • First letter: correct 50-71% of time (vs. 10% by chance) • First sound: 36% of time (vs. 6% by chance)

28. Tip-of-the-tongue • Results suggest a basic split between semantics/syntax and phonology: • People can access meaning and grammar but not pronunciation

29. Tip-of-the-tongue • Semantics • Syntax • grammatical category (“part of speech”) • e.g. noun, verb, adjective • Gender • e.g. le chien, la vache; le camion, la voiture • Number • e.g. dog vs. dogs; trousers vs. shirt • Count/mass status • e.g. oats vs. flour

30. Tip-of-the-tongue • Vigliocco et al. (1997) • Subjects (Italian speakers) presented with word definitions • Gender was always arbitrary • If unable to retrieve word, they answered • How well do you think you know the word? • Guess the gender • Guess the number of syllables • Guess as many letters and positions as possible • Report any word that comes to mind • Then presented with target word • Do you know this word? • Is this the word you were thinking of?

31. Vigliocco et al (1997) • Scoring • + TOT • Both reported some correct information in questionnaire • And said yes to recognition question • - TOT • Otherwise • Vigliocco et al. (1997)

32. Vigliocco et al (1997) • Results • + TOT: 84% correct gender guess • - TOT: 53% correct gender guess • chance level • Conclusion • Subjects often know grammatical gender information even when they have no phonological information • Supports split between syntax and phonology in production • Vigliocco et al. (1997)

33. Syntactic level Morphemic level Phonemic level Articulation Nitty-gritty details of the model Message level • Central questions: • How many levels are there? • Are the stages discrete or cascading? • Discrete: must complete before moving on • Cascade: can get started as soon as some information is available • Is there feedback? • Top-down only (serial processing) • Garrett, Levelt • Bottom up too (interactive processing) • Dell, Stemberger, McKay

34. Doing it in time • Strongest constraint may be fluency: • Have to get form right under time pressure. • Incrementality: • ‘Work with what you’ve got’ • Flexibility: allows speaker to say something quickly, also respond to changing environment. • Modularity: • ‘Work only with what you’ve got’ • Regulate flow of information.

35. Two different models Levelt (1989) Dell (1986) TACTIC FRAMES LEXICAL NETWORK

36. Levelt’s model • Four broad stages: • Conceptualization • Deciding on the message (= meaning to express) • Formulation • Turning the message into linguistic representations • Grammatical encoding (finding words and putting them together) • Phonological encoding (finding sounds and putting them together) • Articulation • Speaking (or writing or signing) • Monitoring (via the comprehension system)

37. Functional processing: • Assignment of roles Grammatical subject Direct object Levelt’s model • Formalization on the Syntax side of the model • Works in parallel with the lexicon side

38. S VP NP V NP Levelt’s model • Formalization on the Syntax side of the model • Works in parallel with the lexicon side • Positional processing: • Build syntactic tree

39. Levelt’s model • Tip of tongue state when lemma is retrieved without word-form being retrieved • Formalization on the Lexicon side of the model • Involves lexical retrieval: • Semantic/syntactic content (lemmas) • Phonological content (lexemes or word-forms)

40. Levelt’s model has stripes is dangerous TIGER (X) Lexical concepts Noun tigre Lemmas Fem. countable /tigre/ Lexemes /t/ /I/ /g/ Phonemes

41. Levelt’s model: conceptual level has stripes is dangerous • Conceptual level is not decomposed • one lexical concept node for “tiger” • instead, conceptual links from “tiger” to “stripes”, etc. TIGER (X) Noun tigre Fem. countable /tigre/ /t/ /I/ /g/

42. Levelt’s model: meaning & syntax has stripes is dangerous • First, lemma activation occurs • This involves activating a lemma or lemmas corresponding to the concept • thus, concept TIGER activates lemma “tiger” TIGER (X) Noun tigre Fem. countable /tigre/ /t/ /I/ /g/

43. Levelt’s model: meaning & syntax has stripes is dangerous • First, lemma activation occurs • This involves activating a lemma or lemmas corresponding to the concept • thus, concept TIGER activates lemma “tiger” TIGER (X) LION (X) Noun • But also involves activating other lemmas • TIGER also activates LION (etc.) to some extent • and LION activates lemma “lion” tigre lion Fem. /tigre/ /t/ /I/ /g/

44. Levelt’s model: meaning & syntax has stripes is dangerous • First, lemma activation occurs • Second, lemma selection occurs • Selection is different from activation • Only one lemma is selected • Probability of selecting the target lemma (“tiger”) • ratio of that lemma’s activation to the total activation of all lemmas (“tiger”, “lion”, etc.) • Hence competition between semantically related lemmas TIGER (X) LION (X) Noun tigre lion Fem. /tigre/ /t/ /I/ /g/

45. Morpho-phonological encoding(and beyond) • The lemma is now converted into a phonological representation • called “word-form” (or “lexeme”) • If “tiger” lemma plus plural (and noun) are activated • Leads to activation of morphemes tigre and s • Other processes too • Stress, phonological segments, phonetics, and finally articulation has stripes is dangerous TIGER (X) Noun countable tigre Fem. /tigre/ /t/ /I/ /g/

46. Model’s assumptions • Modularity • Later processes cannot affect earlier processes • No feedback between the word-form (lexemes) layer and the grammatical (lemmas) layer • Also, only one lemma activates a word form • If “tiger” and “lion” lemmas are activated, they compete to produce a winner at the lemma stratum • Only the “winner” activates a word form (selection) • The word-forms for the “losers” aren’t accessed

47. Dell’s interactive account • Dell (1986) presented the one of the best-known interactive accounts • other similar accounts exist (e.g., Stemberger, McKay) • Network organization • 3 levels of representation • Semantics (decomposed into features) • Words and morphemes • phonemes (sounds) • These get selected and inserted into frames

48. Dell’s interactive account TACTIC FRAMES LEXICAL NETWORK Dell (1986) A moment in the production of: “Some swimmers sink”

49. Interactive because information flows “upwards” information Dell’s interactive account Dell (1986) TACTIC FRAMES LEXICAL NETWORK as well as “downwards” information • Cascading because processing at lower levels can start early

50. Dell’s interactive account Dell (1986) • these send activation back to the word level, activating words containing these sounds (e.g., “log”, “dot”) to some extent FURRY BARKS MAMMAL • e.g., the semantic features mammal, barks, four-legs activate the word “dog” • this activates the sounds /d/, /o/, /g/ dot dog log /t/ /d/ /g/ /a/ /l/ this activation is upwards (phonology to syntax) and wouldn’t occur in Levelt’s account