Research on clear speech has shown that the type of clear speech produced can vary depending on the speaker, the listener and the medium. Although prior research has suggested that clear speech is more intelligible than conversational speech for normal-hearing listeners in noisy environments, it is not known which acoustic features of clear speech are the most responsible for enhanced intelligibility and comprehension. This thesis focused on investigating the acoustic characteristics that are produced in clear speech to foreigners and infants. Its aim was to assess the utility of these features in enhancing speech intelligibility and comprehension. The results of Experiment 1 showed that native speakers produced exaggerated vowel space in natural interactions with foreign-accented listeners compared to native-accented listeners. Results of Experiment 2 indicated that native speakers exaggerated vowel space and pitch to infants compared to clear read speech. Experiments 3 and 4 focused on speech perception and used transcription and clarity rating tasks. Experiment 3 contained speech directed at foreigners and showed that speech to foreign-accented speakers was rated clearer than speech to native-accented speakers. Experiment 4 contained speech directed at infants and showed that native speakers rated infant-directed speech as clearer than clear read speech. In the fifth and final experiment, naturally elicited clear speech towards foreign-accented interlocutors was used in speech comprehension tasks for native and non-native listeners with varying proficiency of English. It was revealed that speech with expanded vowel space improved listeners’ comprehension of speech in quiet and noise conditions. Results are discussed in terms of the Lindblom’s (1990) theory of Hyper and Hypoarticulation, an influential framework of speech production and perception.

The aim of this study is to compare and contrast the use of hyperbole or exaggeration in spoken Czech and English language. The research is based on comparative approach to two samples accounting for 100 hyperbolic instances in Czech and 100 instances of hyperbole in English. The Czech sample has been randomly excerpted from the oral part of the Czech National Corpus ORAL2008, whereas the English sample has been randomly excerpted from the "spoken context-govern" and "spoken demographic" sections of The British National Corpus. The two samples are subject to analysis. Firstly, the formal realization of hyperbole is examined. Secondly, the occurrences are classified semantically (quantitative versus qualitative hyperbole) and, thirdly, the lexico-semantics is examined (hyperbolic source domains). By this, the present study tests the hypothesis of universal hyperbolic source domains by examining the situation in Czech and English. Finally, the occurrence of conventionalized instances of hyperbole as opposed to creative instances of hyperbolic nonce-usages is examined. Last but not least, it is the aim of this study to provide the overall frequency figures of hyperbole in both languages.

This work deals with advertising and its regulation both through legal norms and ethical self-regulation. Aim of the thesis is to define the scope given to advertising hyperbole and exaggeration by legal and ethical rules and based on selected decisions of the Czech Advertising Standards Council and rulings of Czech courts to provide a set of advice on how to use hyperbole in advertising. As groundwork for the research on the restrictions affecting use of advertising hyperbole there has been analyzed Czech legal and self-regulatory framework of advertising.

Lors d'une évaluation neuropsychologique, il est attendu du patient une mobilisation optimale de ses capacités cognitives, afin d’objectiver de la façon la plus précise possible son tableau clinique. Sa collaboration et son implication au cours de l'examen sont en effet fondamentales puisqu’elles participent fortement à la validité de ses résultats, et de ce fait à la solidité des conclusions diagnostiques. Le biais de réponse se définit aujourd’hui comme l’ensemble des comportements visant à intentionnellement modifier ses performances cognitives. Malgré une abondante littérature sur ce concept au cours des deux dernières décennies, plusieurs questions perdurent, particulièrement en regard de ses aspects qualitatifs et des mécanismes associés. A travers quatre études, ce projet de thèse a tenté de répondre à ces problématiques, en apportant des connaissances complémentaires sur le biais de réponse. Une première expérimentation s’est ainsi intéressée à préciser la nature des comportements liés au biais de réponse, en l’explorant de façon originale dans plusieurs domaines cognitifs et au sein d’un échantillon mixte, incluant notamment des patients présentant une altération cognitive. Elle a permis de mettre en lumière un large répertoire de ses manifestations, et a apporté des arguments en faveur d’une participation de facteurs cognitifs dans la production du biais de réponse. Les deux études suivantes se sont vouées à adapter et valider trois outils psychométriques spécifiques à l’évaluation du biais de réponse (Performance Validity Tests), en testant leur pertinence et leur efficacité dans une large population francophone clinique et générale. Enfin, le dernier volet a cherché à comprendre le rôle joué par les facteurs associés au biais de réponse, en analysant son lien avec les processus exécutifs et métacognitifs. L’analyse des observations a alors confirmé l’existence d’une influence du fonctionnement exécutif dans le biais de réponse. L’ensemble des résultats recueillis à l’issue de ce travail souligne la complexité et la richesse du biais de réponse et permet de suggérer une nouvelle modélisation de ce concept, tenant compte de son caractère multidimensionnel et possiblement multifactoriel. / During a neuropsychological evaluation, optimal mobilization of the patient’s cognitive capacities is required in order to accurately objectify their clinical picture. The collaboration and involvement of the patient during the examination are fundamental to the validity of the results and hence the strength of the diagnostic. The current definition of response bias is the set of behaviours intended to intentionally modify one's cognitive performances. Despite an extensive literature on this concept over the last two decades, several questions remain, particularly regarding the qualitative aspects and the associated mechanisms. Through four studies, this dissertation has tried to answer these issues by providing complementary knowledge on response bias. The first experiment aimed to clarify the nature of behaviours related to response bias, in several cognitive domains and in a mixed sample including patients with cognitive impairment. This has shed light on a broad repertoire of its manifestations and has provided arguments for the participation of cognitive factors in the production of response bias. The following two studies have adapted and validated three specific psychometric tools known as Performance Validity Tests, by testing their relevance and effectiveness in large French-speaking samples including neurological patients and the general population. Finally, the last part sought to understand the role played by the factors associated with response bias, by analysing its link with the executive and metacognitive processes. The observations analysis has confirmed the existence of an impact of the executive functioning in response bias. All the results gathered underline the complexity and richness of response bias and suggest a new modelling of this concept, considering its multidimensional and possibly multifactorial nature.