Phonetics and Speech Sciences (말소리와 음성과학)

Korean Society of Speech Sciences (한국음성학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Speech processing strategy and executive function: Korean children's stop perception

  • Kong, Eun Jong (Department of English Korea Aerospace University) ;
  • Yoo, Jeewon (Department of Communication Disorders Ewha Womans University)
  • Received : 2017.08.12
  • Accepted : 2017.09.22
  • Published : 2017.09.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The current study explored how Korean-speaking children processed the multiple acoustic cues (VOT and f0) for the stop laryngeal contrast (/t'/, /t/, and /$t^h$/) and examined whether individual perceptual strategies could be related to a general cognitive ability performing executive functions (EF). 15 children (aged from 7 to 8) participated in the speech perception task identifying the three Korean laryngeal stops (3AFC) on listening to the auditory stimuli of C-/a/ with synthetically varying VOT and f0. They completed a series of EF tasks to measure working memory, inhibition, and cognitive shifting ability. The findings showed that children used the two cues in a highly correlated manner. While children utilized VOT consistently for the three laryngeal categories, their use of f0 was either reduced or enhanced depending on the phonetic categories. Importantly, the children's processing strategies of a f0 suppression for a tense-aspirated contrast were meaningfully associated with children's better cognitive abilities such as working memory, inhibition, and attentional shifting. As a preliminary experimental investigation, the current research demonstrated that listeners with inefficient processing strategies were poor at the EF skills, suggesting that cognitive skills might be responsible for developmental variations of processing sub-phonemic information for the linguistic contrast.

Keywords

References

  1. Alloway, P. (2007). Working memory, reading and mathematical skills in children with developmental coordination disorder. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 96, 20-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2006.07.002
  2. Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory: Looking back and looking forward. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4, 829-839. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1201
  3. Baddeley, A., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. Bower (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation (pp. 47-90). New York: Academic Press.
  4. Barkley, A. (2012). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved. New York: Guilford Press.
  5. Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1-48.
  6. Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2013). Praat: doing phonetics by computer [Computer program]. Version 5.3.51. Retrieved from http://www.praat.org/ on August 15, 2017.
  7. Cebrian, J. (2006). Experience and the use of non-native duration in L2 vowel categorization. Journal of Phonetics, 34(3), 372-387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2005.08.003
  8. Cedrus Corporation. (2015). SuperLab. Version 5.0.5. San Pedro, CA. [Computer program]
  9. Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450-466. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90312-6
  10. Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual review of psychology, 64, 135-168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
  11. Eriksen, B., & Eriksen, C. (1974). Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task. Perception & Psychophysics, 16, 143-149. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03203267
  12. Escudero, P., & Boersma, P. (2004). Bridging the gap between L2 speech perception research and phonological theory. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 551-585.
  13. Flege, J., Bohn, O., & Jang, S. (1997). Effects of experience on non-native speakers' production and perception of English vowels. Journal of Phonetics, 25(4), 437-470. https://doi.org/10.1006/jpho.1997.0052
  14. Francis, A., Kaganovich, N., & Driscoll-Huber, C. (2008). Cue-specific effects of categorization training on the relative weighting of acoustic cues to consonant voicing in English. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 124(2), 1234-1251. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2945161
  15. Friedman, N., Miyake, A., Corley, R., Young, S., DeFries, J., & Hewitt, J. (2006). Not all executive functions are related to intelligence. Psychological Science, 17(2), 172-179. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01681.x
  16. Gordon, P., Eberhardt, J., & Rueckl, J. (1993). Attentional modulation of the phonetic significance of acoustic cues. Cognitive Psychology, 25, 1-42. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1993.1001
  17. Hazan, V., & Barrett, S. (2000). The development of phonemic categorization in children aged 6-12. Journal of Phonetics, 28(4), 377-396. https://doi.org/10.1006/jpho.2000.0121
  18. Holt, L., & Lotto, A. (2006). Cue weighting in auditory categorization: Implications for first and second language acquisition. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 119(5), 3059-3071. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2188377
  19. Hommel, B. (2011). The Simon effect as tool and heuristic. Acta Psychologica, 136, 189-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.04.011
  20. Kang, Y. (2014). Voiceonset time merger and development of tonal contrast in Seoul Korean stop: Acorpus study. Journal of Phonetics, 45, 76-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2014.03.005
  21. Kim, M. (2004). Correlation betweenVOT and F0 in the perception of Korean stops and affricates. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Spoken Language Processing (pp. 49-52).
  22. Kim, S. (2015). ppcor: partial and semi-partial (part) Correlation. R package version 1.1. Retrieved from https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ppcor on August 15, 2017.
  23. Kim, Y., Hong, G., Kim, K., Jang, H., & Lee, J. (2009). Receptive & expressive vocabulary test (REVT). Seoul: Seoul Community Rehabilitation Center.
  24. Kingston, J., & Diehl, R. (1994). Phonetic knowledge. Language, 419-454.
  25. Kong, E., & Edwards, J. (2016). Individual differences in categorical perception of speech: Cue weighting and executive function. Journal of Phonetics, 59, 40-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2016.08.006
  26. Kong, E., & Kang, J. (2015). L2 proficiency and effect of auditory source in processing L2 stops. Phonetics and Speech Sciences, 7(3), 99-105. https://doi.org/10.13064/KSSS.2015.7.3.099
  27. Kong, E., & Kang, S. (2017). Individual variability in processing English source input into Korean stops. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology, 23(2), 201-219. https://doi.org/10.17959/sppm.2017.23.2.201
  28. Kong, E., & Yoon, I. (2013). L2 proficiency effect on the acoustic cue-weighting pattern by Korean L2 learners of English: production and perception of English stops. Phonetics and Speech Sciences, 5(4), 81-90. https://doi.org/10.13064/KSSS.2013.5.4.081
  29. Kong, E., Beckman, M., & Edwards, J. (2011). Why are Korean tense stops acquired so early?: The role of acoustic properties. Journal of Phonetics, 39(2), 196-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2011.02.002
  30. Kopp, B., Mattler, U., & Rist, F. (1994). Selective attention and response competition in schizophrenic patients. Psychiatry Research, 53(2), 129-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1781(94)90104-X
  31. Kronenberger, W., Pisoni, D., Henning, S., & Colson, B. (2013). Executive functioning skills in long-term users of cochlear implants: A case control study. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 38, 902-914. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jst034
  32. Lev-Ari, S., & Peperkamp, S. (2013). Low inhibitory skill leads to non-native perception and production in bilinguals' native language. Journal of Phonetics, 41, 320-331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2013.06.002
  33. Lezak, M. (1983). Neuropsychological Assessment. New York: Oxford University Press.
  34. Li, F. (2012). Language specific developmental differences in speech production: A cross-language acoustic study. Child Development, 83(4), 1303-1315. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01773.x
  35. Lisker, L. (1978). Rapid vs. rabid: A catalogue of acoustic features that may cue the distinction. Haskins Laboratories Status Report on Speech Research, 54, 127-132.
  36. Lisker, L., & Abramson, A. (1964). A cross-language study of voicing in initial stops: Acoustical measurements. Word, 20(3), 384-422. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1964.11659830
  37. Mayo, C., & Turk, A. (2004). Adult-child differences in acoustic cue weighting are influenced by segmental context: Children are not always perceptually biased toward transitions. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 115(6), 3184-3194. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1738838
  38. Mayr, R., & Escudero, P. (2010). Explaining individual variation in L2 perception: Rounded vowels in English learners of German. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(3), 279-297. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728909990022
  39. Miyake, A., Friedman, N., Emerson, M., Witzki, A., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "frontal lobe" tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49-100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
  40. Moon, S., & Byun, C. (1997). Korean Kaufman assessment battery for children (K-ABC). Seoul: Hakjisa.
  41. Nittrouer, S. (1992). Age-related differences in perceptual effects of formant transitions within syllables and across syllable boundaries. Journal of Phonetics, 20(3), 351-382.
  42. Nittrouer, S. (2002). Learning to perceive speech: How fricative perception changes, and how it stays the same. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 112(2), 711-719. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1496082
  43. Nittrouer, S., & Burton, L. (2005). The role of early language experience in the development of speech perception and phonological processing abilities: Evidence from 5-year-olds with histories of otitis media with effusion and low socioeconomic status. Journal of Communication Disorders, 38, 29-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2004.03.006
  44. Nittrouer, S., & Miller, M. (1997). Developmental weighting shifts for noise components of fricative-vowel syllables. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 102(1), 572-580. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.419730
  45. Nittrouer, S., Caldwell-Tarr, A., & Lowenstein, J. (2013). Working memory in children with cochlear implants: problems are in storage, not processing. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 77, 1886-1898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2013.09.001
  46. Owen, A., McMillan, K., Laird, A., & Bullmore, E. (2005). N-back working memory paradigm: A meta-analysis of normative functional neuroimaging studies. Human Brain Mapping, 25(1), 46-59. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20131
  47. Psychology Software Tools, Incorporated. [E-Prime 2.0]. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.pstnet.com on August 15, 2017.
  48. R Core Team. (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Retrieved from https://www.R-project.org/ on August 15, 2017.
  49. Repp, B. (1983). Coarticulation in sequences of two nonhomorganic stop consonants: perceptual and acoustic evidence. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 74(2), 420-427. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.389835
  50. Riki, T., Minka, H., & Liat, K. (2007). The effect of age on acoustic cue weighting in the perception of initial stop voicing contrast in Hebrew. Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.
  51. Schertz, J., Cho, T., Lotto, A., & Warner, N. (2015). Individual differences in phonetic cue use in production and perception of a non-native sound contrast. Journal of Phonetics, 52, 183-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2015.07.003
  52. Silva, D. (2006). Acoustic evidence for the emergence of tonal contrast in contemporaryKorean. Phonology, 23, 287-308. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0952675706000911
  53. Stuss, D., Levine, B., Alexander, M., Hong, J., Palumbo, C., Hamer, L., Murphy, K., & Izukawa, D. (2000). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in patients with focal frontal and posterior brain damage: effects of lesion location and test structure on separable cognitive processes. Neuropsychologia, 38, 388-402. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(99)00093-7
  54. Summerfield, Q., & Haggard, M. (1974). Perceptual processing of multiple cues and contexts: effects of following vowel upon stop consonant voicing. Journal of Phonetics, 2, 279-295.
  55. van Maanen, L., van Rijn, H., & Borst, J. (2009). Stroop and picture-word interference are two sides of the same coin. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16(6), 987-999. https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.16.6.987
  56. Vanderplas, J., & Garvin, E. (1959). Complexity, association value, and practice as factors in shape recognition following paired-associates training. Journal of experimental psychology, 57(3), 147-154. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0048723
  57. Walley, A., & Carrell, T. (1983). Onset spectra and formant transitions in the adult's and child's perception of place of articulation in stop consonants. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 73, 1011-1022. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.389149
  58. Yamada, R., & Tohkura, Y. (1992). The effects of experimental variables on the perception of American English /r/ and /l/ by Japanese listeners. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 52(4), 376-392. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206698
  59. Zelazo, P., Mueller, U., Frye, D., & Marcovitch, S. (2003). The development of executive function in early childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 68, 1-137. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5834.2003.00247.x