Idiosyncratic use of bottom-up and top-down information leads to differences in speech perception flexibility: Converging evidence from ERPs and eye-tracking

Kapnoula, Efthymia C.; McMurray, Bob

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2021.105031

Cited by 24 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…showed no correlation. While the absence of a relationship has been suggested by others (Kapnoula & McMurray, 2021;Zhang & Samuel, 2018), we provide the first evidence that this is true across the lifespan. Even as older adults begin to show declines to spoken word recognition, there is no evidence that they recruit domain-general resources to compensate.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Third, models of word recognition do not invoke general cognitive systems that are affected by age (i.e., working memory, cognitive control; Hannagan et al, 2013;McClelland & Elman, 1986). Moreover, assessments of the nature of competition during word recognition in quiet show only small or no effects of domain general cognition (Kapnoula & McMurray, 2021;Zhang & Samuel, 2018). Thus, word recognition can be used to investigate age-related changes specifically in language function that may be independent of domain general cognition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Efficiency of spoken word recognition slows across the adult lifespan

Colby¹,

McMurray²

2022

Preprint

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Spoken word recognition is a complex cognitive process that underpins efficient language processing. When recognizing words, listeners must quickly map the spoken input to stored lexical candidates as speech unfolds over time. Older adults experience two declines that could impact word recognition: hearing loss and cognitive decline. To recognize words, listeners must be able to accurately hear the input, and they must resolve competition between lexical candidates, though it is unclear whether this resolution derives from domain-general or language specific mechanisms at any age. Thus, spoken word recognition may provide a crucial mediator between hearing loss and general cognitive declines in older adults. We examined online spoken word recognition in a continuous age sample from adolescence to older adulthood (N=104, ages 11 – 79). Hearing thresholds were collected from all participants at octave frequencies between 0.25 - 8 kHz. Participants completed a Visual World Paradigm (VWP) task to examine the dynamics of lexical competition and a non-linguistic analogue of the VWP to capture domain-general visual cognition and speed of processing. Spoken word recognition increased in efficiency through the 20’s, but began to decline around age 45. A hierarchical regression showed that age predicted the efficiency of activating target words over and above visual cognition and peripheral hearing. This suggests that age uniquely affects word recognition, separate from hearing ability and age-related changes to visual cognition. This highlights spoken word recognition as a potential early marker for more severe cognitive decline in the future.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency of spoken word recognition slows across the adult lifespan

Colby¹,

McMurray²

2022

Preprint

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“…This lack of relationship with cognitive control suggests that inhibition between words is an embedded property of the lexicon (as instantiated in TRACE, for example), and not dependent on more general inhibitory control. This lack of relationship between lexical inhibition and general inhibition has also been demonstrated in adults (Kapnoula & McMurray, 2021). Our results contribute to the notion that these types of inhibition rely on different underlying mechanisms.…”

Section: Implications For Theories Of the Lexiconsupporting

confidence: 82%

The development of lexical inhibition in spoken word recognition.

Blomquist¹,

McMurray²

2022

Developmental Psychology

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As a spoken word unfolds over time, similar sounding words (cap and cat) compete until one word "wins". Lexical competition becomes more efficient from infancy through adolescence. We examined one potential mechanism underlying this development: lexical inhibition, by which activated candidates suppress competitors. In Experiment 1, younger (7-8 years) and older (12-13 years) children heard words (cap) in which the onset was manipulated to briefly boost competition from a cohort competitor (cat). This was compared to a condition with a nonword (cack) onset that would not inhibit the target. Words were presented in a visual world task during which eye movements were recorded. Both groups showed less looking to the target when perceiving the competitor-splice relative to the nonword-splice, showing engagement of lexical inhibition. Exploratory analyses of linguistic adaptation across the experiment revealed that older children demonstrated consistent lexical inhibition across the experiment and younger children did not, initially showing no effect in the first half of trials and then a robust effect in the latter half. In Experiment 2, adults also displayed consistent lexical inhibition in the same task. These findings suggest that younger children do not consistently engage lexical inhibition in typical listening but can quickly bring it online in response to certain linguistic experiences. Computational modeling showed that age-related differences are best explained by increased engagement of inhibition rather than growth in activation. These findings suggest that continued development of lexical inhibition in later childhood may underlie increases in efficiency of spoken word recognition. Public Significance StatementThis study suggests that inhibition between words during spoken word recognition shows development across the school years, with younger children showing less reliable engagement of lexical inhibition while older children and adults show consistent engagement. Thus, development of lexical inhibition may help to explain the increases in efficiency of spoken word recognition that continue through adolescence.

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“…Lateral inhibition among words within the lexicon (Dahan et al, 2001) may also contribute: As one word becomes more activated than its neighbors, it suppresses them. This form of inhibition is distinct from domain-general cognitive control (and not correlated with it: Kapnoula & McMurray, 2021), as well as conceptions of inhibition from classic learning theory (e.g., pruning connections). Lateral inhibition cannot have effects until words become somewhat activated; thus, its effects arise late, as a sort of cleanup operation.…”

Section: Dimensions Of Individual Differences In Processingmentioning

confidence: 89%

The Slow Development of Real-Time Processing: Spoken-Word Recognition as a Crucible for New Thinking About Language Acquisition and Language Disorders

McMurray

Apfelbaum

Tomblin

2022

Curr Dir Psychol Sci

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Words are fundamental to language, linking sound, articulation, and spelling to meaning and syntax; and lexical deficits are core to communicative disorders. Work in language acquisition commonly focuses on how lexical knowledge—knowledge of words’ sound patterns and meanings—is acquired. But lexical knowledge is insufficient to account for skilled language use. Sophisticated real-time processes must decode the sound pattern of words and interpret them appropriately. We review work that bridges this gap by using sensitive real-time measures (eye tracking in the visual world paradigm) of school-age children’s processing of highly familiar words. This work reveals that the development of word recognition skills can be characterized by changes in the rate at which decisions unfold in the lexical system (the activation rate). Moreover, contrary to the standard view that these real-time skills largely develop during infancy and toddlerhood, they develop slowly, at least through adolescence. In contrast, language disorders can be linked to differences in the ultimate degree to which competing interpretations are suppressed (competition resolution), and these differences can be mechanistically linked to deficits in inhibition. These findings have implications for real-world problems such as reading difficulties and second-language acquisition. They suggest that developing accurate, flexible, and efficient processing is just as important a developmental goal as is acquiring language knowledge.

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Idiosyncratic use of bottom-up and top-down information leads to differences in speech perception flexibility: Converging evidence from ERPs and eye-tracking

Cited by 24 publications

References 72 publications

Efficiency of spoken word recognition slows across the adult lifespan

Efficiency of spoken word recognition slows across the adult lifespan

The development of lexical inhibition in spoken word recognition.

The Slow Development of Real-Time Processing: Spoken-Word Recognition as a Crucible for New Thinking About Language Acquisition and Language Disorders

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