Doctoral Dissertation Research on the Role of Domain-General Executive Functions in Language Production: Resolving conflict in lexical selection

域一般执行功能在语言产生中的作用的博士论文研究：解决词汇选择中的冲突

• 批准号: 1420820
• 负责人: Matthew Goldrick
• 金额: $ 0.92万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2016-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1420820&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Role; Domain

Understanding how speakers succeed in producing fluent speech with little conscious effort is critical not only to our understanding of the human capacity for language, it also provides insight into how injury to the brain can result in different patterns of loss to that capacity. Producing speech is an impressive mental feat. For example, even cognitively intact individuals sometimes slip up and say the wrong word (e.g., monotony instead of monogamy). How is it that most of the time speakers manage to avoid such difficulties? Building on previous work, this project proposes that speakers efficiently manage the complexity of speaking by drawing on general mental processes called executive functions. These allow speakers to "focus" mental processing, allowing them to efficiently retrieve the words they wish to speak. This project tests this hypothesis by examining how the efficiency of producing speech is related to (i) individual differences in executive functions and (ii) recent experience using executive functions in other cognitive tasks. Gaining a better understanding of the links between general and language specific mental processes may help professionals capitalize on those links in therapeutic and educational settings. For instance, recent research on bilingualism suggests that regular experience with difficult language processing--e.g., when a bilingual alternates between multiple languages may improve general cognitive control and delay the onset of dementia. Identifying which general processes are involved in speech production may therefore allow the development of cognitive control training that targets those processes--which may be used to help individuals with deficits to language production.This research will specifically examine how particular parts of general cognitive control contribute to word retrieval during speech production. Previous work has shown that there is competition among multiple representations during word retrieval (e.g., upon seeing a picture of a CAT, the words CAT, RAT, and DOG all come to mind). This project will examine whether general control processes known as executive functions help resolve such competition. Specifically, it will investigate two executive functions that support conflict resolution: response inhibition (suppression of an automatic response to a stimulus) and interference resolution (prevention of an incorrect response when multiple options are available). The first of two studies will test whether speakers? individual differences in response inhibition and interference resolution abilities influence their picture naming performance in the context of strong competition. If the target executive functions help speakers resolve conflict among competing word-level representations, then speakers with higher control abilities should show have less trouble naming pictures in the presence of competition. Importantly, several behavioral tasks will be used to evaluate each executive function, ensuring that the executive function measures do not reflect task-specific effects. The second, parallel study will examine the causality of the relationship between the target executive functions and word retrieval using a procedure known as negative transfer. Each of three groups will receive intensive practice in non-linguistic tasks intended to 'exhaust' a specific executive function. If the target control process (e.g., response inhibition) is involved in conflict resolution during word retrieval, then negative transfer should occur, such that speakers who practiced that process have more trouble naming pictures after practice than before it.

了解说话者如何通过很少有意识的努力成功地产生流利的语音，这不仅对我们对人类语言能力的理解至关重要，而且还可以洞悉大脑的伤害如何导致这种能力的不同模式。 发表演讲是一项令人印象深刻的精神壮举。例如，即使是认知完整的人，有时也会溜走错误的单词（例如，单调而不是一夫一妻制）。大多数时候，演讲者设法避免了这种困难？在先前的工作的基础上，该项目建议说话者通过利用称为执行功能的一般心理过程来有效地管理讲话的复杂性。这些使演讲者可以“集中”心理处理，从而使他们能够有效地检索他们希望说的话。该项目通过研究产生语音的效率与（i）执行职能的个体差异以及（ii）在其他认知任务中使用执行功能的最新经验来检验该假设。更好地了解一般和语言特定心理过程之间的联系可能有助于专业人员利用治疗和教育环境中的这些联系。例如，对双语的最新研究表明，经常进行困难语言处理的经验 - 例如，当多种语言之间的双语交替可以改善一般认知控制并延迟痴呆症的发作时。因此，确定言语产生涉及哪些一般过程可能允许针对这些过程的认知控制培训的发展 - 可以用来帮助有缺陷的语言生产的人。这项研究将专门研究一般认知控制的特定部分如何在语音生产过程中有助于单词检索。先前的工作表明，单词检索期间多个表示之间存在竞争（例如，在看到猫，猫，老鼠和狗的图片时，都会想到）。该项目将检查称为执行功能的一般控制过程是否有助于解决此类竞争。具体而言，它将研究两个支持冲突解决方案的行政职能：响应抑制（抑制对刺激的自动响应）和干扰解决方案（可用多个选项可用时预防不正确的响应）。两项研究中的第一项会测试说话者是否？在强烈竞争的背景下，响应抑制和干扰解决能力的个体差异会影响其命名性能。如果目标执行功能有助于说话者解决竞争性的单词级表示之间的冲突，那么具有较高控制能力的说话者应显示在竞争面前命名图片的麻烦较小。重要的是，将使用一些行为任务来评估每个执行功能，以确保执行功能措施不能反映特定于任务的效果。第二次并行研究将使用称为负转移的程序研究目标执行功能与单词检索之间关系的因果关系。三个小组中的每一个都将在旨在“耗尽”特定执行职能的非语言任务中获得密集的实践。如果目标控制过程（例如，响应抑制）参与了单词检索期间的冲突解决方案，则应进行负转移，以便练习该过程在练习后命名图片的说话者比以前更有麻烦。