Doctoral Dissertation Research: Examining the Role of Literacy on Predictive Processing during Spoken Language Comprehension

博士论文研究：检验读写能力在口语理解过程中预测处理中的作用

• 批准号: 2146232
• 负责人: Paola Dussias
• 金额: $ 1.88万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-02-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2146232&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Examining; Role

Prediction has been proposed as a mental operation that facilitates language comprehension. That is, when listening to a sentence, a listener makes predictions about up-coming words (for instance, predicting "sugar" after hearing "I drink my coffee with cream and ..."). When people's predictions are correct, words are read faster because the person has anticipated what is coming up. Past experimental research has demonstrated that prediction in a reading task is modulated by reading skill. The interpretation of this finding is that because reading exposes people to different types of sentence structures and to a wider range of vocabulary, individuals with high reading skill have added knowledge that can be used to generate accurate predictions. One aspect that has not been considered in past literature, however, is the role of socioeconomic status (SES). This is an important variable to investigate because individuals from low SES backgrounds are also more likely to have less reading experience. Hence, it is unclear whether it is reading skill per se or socioeconomic status that impacts predictive ability. Clarifying this point is the goal of the present doctoral dissertation research study.Drawing data from participants in a community where literacy and SES are not directly linked, two experiments will be conducted to determine the role of literacy on predictive processing during spoken language comprehension. In Experiment 1, eye movements to objects displayed on a computer screen will be recorded while participants listen to sentences where the cue to anticipation is grammatical. Experiment 2 will also employ an eye tracking technique, this time to examine how grammatical and semantic cues modulate anticipatory processes. Findings from the proposed experiments will be used to create and to offer literacy workshops for diverse and less-advantaged populations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

预测被认为是一种促进语言理解的心理操作。也就是说，当听一个句子时，听众会对即将出现的单词进行预测（例如，在听到“我喝加奶油的咖啡和......”后预测“糖”）。当人们的预测正确时，单词的阅读速度会更快，因为人们已经预料到了即将发生的事情。过去的实验研究表明，阅读任务的预测受阅读技能的影响。对这一发现的解释是，由于阅读使人们接触到不同类型的句子结构和更广泛的词汇，因此具有高阅读能力的人增加了可用于生成准确预测的知识。然而，过去的文献中没有考虑到的一个方面是社会经济地位（SES）的作用。这是一个需要调查的重要变量，因为社会经济地位低背景的人也更有可能拥有较少的阅读经验。因此，尚不清楚是阅读技能本身还是社会经济地位影响了预测能力。阐明这一点是本博士论文研究的目标。我们将从读写能力和社会经济地位没有直接联系的社区参与者那里获取数据，进行两个实验来确定读写能力在口语理解过程中预测处理中的作用。在实验 1 中，参与者在听句子时，会记录对计算机屏幕上显示的物体的眼球运动，其中的预期提示是符合语法的。实验 2 还将采用眼动追踪技术，这次是为了检查语法和语义线索如何调节预期过程。拟议实验的结果将用于为多元化和弱势群体创建和提供扫盲研讨会。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。