Question 1

Which interactive model of spoken word recognition emphasizes the role of top-down processing (context) on word recognition (lexical context can directly assist acoustic-perceptual processing, and information above the word level can directly influence word processing)?

Accepted Answer

The TRACE model emphasizes the role of top-down processing in spoken word recognition. It proposes that lexical context can directly assist acoustic-perceptual processing, and information above the word level can directly influence word processing.

Question 2

Foss and Blank proposed a dual-code theory where speech processing employs:

Accepted Answer

Foss and Blank's dual-code theory proposes that speech processing involves two distinct stages or codes, namely a prelexical or phonetic code and a postlexical or phonemic code. The prelexical code involves the processing of basic auditory features of speech, such as pitch, duration, and intensity, while the postlexical code involves the interpretation of these basic features as phonemes or meaningful units of language. Therefore, option B, which refers to a prelexical and a postlexical code, is the best choice.

Question 3

The point at which all the information about a word-phonological, semantic, syntactic, pragmatic-becomes available following its recognition is known as:

Accepted Answer

The point at which all the information about a word becomes available following its recognition is known as lexical access. This includes phonological, semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic information.

Question 4

Participants are willing to put a sound into a category they would not otherwise choose if the result makes a word: "kiss" is a word, "giss" is not, and this influences our categorical perception of the ambiguous phoneme. This is known as a:

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is known as a Lexical identification shift, where the knowledge that a sound sequence forms a recognizable word influences the perception and categorization of ambiguous phonemes, leading participants to categorize sounds in a way that forms meaningful words.

Question 5

Which position with regard to the role of context in recognition states that context cannot have an effect prior to word recognition; it can only contribute to the evaluation and integration of the output of lexical processing, not its generation?

Accepted Answer

The position that context cannot have an effect prior to word recognition is the Autonomous position. This position argues that context can only contribute to the evaluation and integration of the output of lexical processing, not its generation.

Question 6

Even though there is variation in the way phonemes can sound, we rarely, if ever, notice these differences. We classify speech sounds as one phoneme or another. This phenomenon is known as the categorical perception of:

Accepted Answer

Categorical perception refers to the way our brain categorizes speech sounds into distinct phonemes, despite variation in their acoustic properties. This allows us to recognize words even when the sounds that make them up are pronounced slightly differently by different speakers or in different contexts.

Question 7

During word identification, after the listener has isolated a word candidate he or she then continues to monitor the sensory input until some level of confidence is reached; this is called the:

Accepted Answer

The recognition point is the point in word identification when the listener has enough confidence in their interpretation of the input to recognize it as a specific word. It is the point when the listener has determined that the word candidate they have identified is the most likely interpretation of the sensory input they are receiving.

Question 8

At which of the following stages of identification does activation continue to accumulate until one lexical entry is selected, resulting in word recognition?

Accepted Answer

The selection phase is the stage where multiple lexical entries have been activated and compete with each other for selection. The activation continues to accumulate until one lexical entry is selected, resulting in word recognition.

Question 9

In the technique known as selective adaptation:

Accepted Answer

Selective adaptation involves the repeated exposure to a specific stimulus, which eventually leads to fatigue of the feature detectors responsible for perceiving that stimulus. This shift in perception can result in an enhanced ability to discriminate between perceptually similar stimuli. Therefore, choice A is the correct answer as it accurately describes the process of selective adaptation.

Question 10

Semantic context is based on:

Accepted Answer

Semantic context refers to the meaning and relationship of words within a sentence or text. Therefore, it is based on word meanings.

Question 11

Which model of speech perception proposes that the speech synthesizer models the articulatory apparatus and motor movements of the speaker, and effectively computes which motor movements would have been necessary to create the sounds?

Accepted Answer

This is the motor theory of speech perception, which proposes that the listener uses their own motor system to simulate the movements required to produce speech sounds, and therefore can recognize the sounds based on the motor patterns they create.

Question 12

What technique necessitates participants listening to speech over headphones, while simultaneously looking at a computer screen to perform a lexical decision task in response to visually presented words?

Accepted Answer

This technique is called cross-modal priming, as it involves presenting information in one modality (e.g. auditory) which then influences processing in another modality (e.g. visual). The lexical decision task requires participants to quickly identify whether a visually presented stimulus is a real word or not. This technique is often used in studies of language processing and word recognition.

Question 13

We do not gather information about only one phoneme at any one time; we are provided with some information about the surrounding sounds, a feature known as:

Accepted Answer

Parallel transmission refers to the process where information about multiple phonemes is gathered simultaneously, rather than focusing on one phoneme at a time. This concept highlights how listeners are provided with information about surrounding sounds, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of speech.

Question 14

During which task are participants asked to listen to speech where a sound is distorted (e.g., "boot" is changed to "poot"), and are also asked to detect these changes?

Accepted Answer

This task is commonly known as the "listening for mispronunciations task." Participants listen to speech where a sound is distorted and must detect these changes. This task is often used in studies on speech perception and phonological processing.

Question 15

In the study in which participants were presented with sentences where a phoneme had been cut out and replaced with a cough, the results showed that the participants:

Accepted Answer

The study, known as the phonemic restoration effect, showed that participants often did not detect that a sound was missing because their brains filled in the missing phoneme, demonstrating the brain's ability to use context to perceive speech.

Question 16

In which task did participants have to listen to continuous speech (which had deliberate mistakes in it-distorted sounds so that certain words were mispronounced), and had to repeat it back as they heard it, as quickly as possible?

Accepted Answer

The task described is shadowing, where participants listen to continuous speech and immediately repeat it back as accurately as possible. Gating involves gradually revealing a spoken word or sentence in segments. Conservation tasks ask participants to recognize that physical quantities remain the same despite changes in appearance or arrangement. Naming tasks involve naming objects or pictures presented to the participant. Lexical decision tasks involve deciding whether a letter string is a real word or not.

Question 17

In the cohort model, the stage of processing at which the semantic and syntactic properties of the chosen word are utilized-for example, integrating the word into a complete representation of the whole sentence-is called the:

Accepted Answer

The integration stage is when the semantic and syntactic properties of the chosen word are utilized to create a complete representation of the whole sentence. This is the point at which the selected word is integrated into the larger structure of the sentence, which includes both its meaning and its grammatical role.

Question 18

In the cohort model, the stage of processing at which the perceptual representation of a word is used to activate lexical items, thereby generating a candidate set of items, is called the:

Accepted Answer

The stage described in the question refers to the Access stage, which is the second stage in the cohort model. This is the point at which possible lexical candidates are activated based on perceptual input.

Question 19

In a study by Savin and Bever, participants were asked to respond as soon as they heard a particular unit, which was either a single phoneme or a syllable. They found that participants:

Accepted Answer

Participants responded more slowly to phoneme targets than to syllable targets because syllables, as larger and more complex units of sound, are more readily processed and recognized by the human auditory system compared to individual phonemes.

Question 20

A word's initial sequence is common to that word and no other at its:

Accepted Answer

The term "Uniqueness point" refers to the point in a word where its initial sequence is common to that word and no other.

Quiz 9: Understanding Speech

Which interactive model of spoken word recognition emphasizes the role of top-down processing (context) on word recognition (lexical context can directly assist acoustic-perceptual processing, and information above the word level can directly influence word processing) ?