在閱讀文句的過程中，隨著文字內容的不同語言特性，眼睛凝視位置與時間也會有所不同；而使用眼動儀(eye tracker)可以精確記錄眼睛凝視的位置和停留時間，研究者可藉此瞭解閱讀歷程中不同的訊息處理機制。此外，眼動誘發呈現(eye movement contingent display)技術精確且快速的刺激呈現控制，能根據眼球凝視的位置，在特定時間與特定位置立即更換螢幕呈現的文字，如此對於閱讀歷程中訊息處理的動態運作，能夠提供更準確的掌握。實驗一以移動視窗的方式，測量中文閱讀的知覺廣度，發現眼睛每次凝視能知覺並處理的文字範圍，包括凝視點及右側四個中文字。實驗二亦採用移動視窗的方式，並操弄視窗週邊文字遮蔽的時間，發現週邊文字在凝視開始的90毫秒內即被提取；週邊文字遮蔽時間的長短不會影響凝視時間，而是影響在下個凝視點訊息整合之凝視時間。實驗三以邊界技術的方式，探討週邊文字被提取的特性，操弄預視字與目標字在字形與字音的相似或相異；結果顯示在一定的條件下，能獲得字音訊息在早期階段被提取之證據，而字形訊息在整合不同訊息的階段產生明顯的影響。實驗四則以快速促發作業的方式，探討凝視位置促發字的文字特性對目標字訊息整合的影響；結果顯示促發字呈現時間較短的情況下，字音效果只在形異的情況下產生，同樣獲得字音訊息在早期階段被提取之證據。本論文應用所發展的眼動誘發呈現技術進行一系列實驗，分別就中文閱讀的知覺廣度、凝視點對於週邊訊息之處理時序、以及週邊與凝視點位置對文字提取之特性和訊息整合機制加以探討，藉此推論中文閱讀時眼動所引發的動態文字處理歷程。 第一章　眼球運動與閱讀歷程的關係 I 第二章 閱讀的眼動控制之運作與影響因素 10 第三章 中文閱讀的眼動研究回顧 20 研究目的 30 第四章 眼動誘發呈現技術的發展 31 第五章 中文閱讀的知覺廣度與呈現改變的影響 34 實驗一 39 第六章 凝視點對週邊訊息的提取時間 45 實驗二 48 第七章 凝視點對週邊文字提取的特性 54 實驗三 55 第八章 凝視點上文字的語音提取 62 實驗四Ａ 64 實驗四Ｂ 65 綜合討論 68 參考文獻 76 附錄一：實驗一與實驗二使用的文章材料 109 附錄二：實驗三與實驗四的句子與操弄單字 113 / In the process of reading, the location and duration of eye fixations varied accroding the language properties of the text. Using the eye tracker nowdays, it precisely records the location and fixation duration of eye movements. That gives an opportunity to understand the cognitive operations of reading. Furthermore, the eye movement contingent display technique is capable to change the display with both the speed and precision. It changes the text on the computer screen at specific location and time, according the location where the eyes are fixating. This advanced technique provides the possibility to explore the nature of dynamic processing of reading. Experiment One uses the moving window paradigm to measure the perceptual span of Chinese reading. It showed that the range of perceived characters in reading includes four characters to the right of fixations. Experiment Two also uses the moving window paradigm but the time of showing "window" is varied. It showed that the characters in peripheral were perceived within 90 msec in the beginning of fixations. The time to mask the peripheral text did not affect the fixation duration of display change, but the time of next fixation. Experiment Three uses the boundary paradigm to show the type of character information can be retrieved in peripheral and integrated with the information on the next fixation. It showed the phonological code can be retrieved in peripheral, but the orthographic code is dominated when integrating information across fixations. Experiment Four uses the fast priming paradigm to show the type of information can be retrieved on fixations. It showed the same pattern for both the third and forth experiment. The phonological effect can be obtained under certain circumstances, when the availability or validity of orthographic information is reduced. The dynamic processing of eye movements in reading and a general model for cognitive operation are discussed.

<p>The general aim of this thesis was to investigate phonological processing skills in dyslexic children and adults and their relation to speech perception. Dyslexia can be studied at various levels: at a biological, cognitive and an environmental level. This thesis mainly looks at environmental and cognitive factors. It is a commonly held view that dyslexia is related to problems with phonological processing, that is, dyslexics have problems dealing with the sound structure of language. The problem is for example seen in tasks where the individual has to manipulate sound segments in the spoken language, read non-words, rapidly name pictures and digits, keep verbal material in short-term memory, and categorize and discriminate sound contrasts in speech perception. To fully understand the dyslexic’s problems we have to investigate both children and adults since the problems might change during the lifespan as a result of changes in the language system and compensatory mechanisms in the poor reader. Research indicates that adult dyslexics can reach functional reading proficiency but still perform poorly on tasks of phonological processing. Even though they can manage many everyday reading situations problems often arise when adult dyslexics enter higher education. The phonological problems of dyslexics are believed to be related to the underlying phonological representations of the language. The phonological representations have been hypothesized to be weakly specified or indistinct and/or not enough segmented. Deviant phonological representations are believed to cause problems when the mapping of written language is to be made to the phonological representations of spoken language during reading acquisition. In Paper 1 adults’ phonological processing and reading habits were investigated in order to increase our understanding of how the reading problems develop into adulthood and what the social consequences are. The results showed that adult dyslexics remained impaired in their phonological processing and that they differed substantially from controls in their choices regarding higher education and also regarding reading habits. Paper 2 reviews research that has used the sine wave speech paradigm in studies of speech perception. The paper also gives a detailed description of how sine wave speech is made and how it can be characterized. Sine wave speech is a course grained description of natural speech lacking phonetic detail. In Paper 3 sine wave speech varying with regard to how much suprasegmental information it contains is employed. Results showed that dyslexics were poorer at identifying monosyllabic words but not disyllabic words and a sentence, plausibly because the dyslexics had problems identifying the phonetic information in monosyllabic words. Paper 4 tested dyslexics’ categorization performance of fricative-vowel syllables and the results showed that dyslexics were less consistent than controls in their categorization indicating poorer sensitivity to phonetic detail. In all the results of the thesis are in line with the phonological deficit hypothesis as revealed by adult data and the performance on task of speech perception. It is concluded that dyslexic children and adults seem to have less well specified phonological representations. </p>

The general aim of this thesis was to investigate phonological processing skills in dyslexic children and adults and their relation to speech perception. Dyslexia can be studied at various levels: at a biological, cognitive and an environmental level. This thesis mainly looks at environmental and cognitive factors. It is a commonly held view that dyslexia is related to problems with phonological processing, that is, dyslexics have problems dealing with the sound structure of language. The problem is for example seen in tasks where the individual has to manipulate sound segments in the spoken language, read non-words, rapidly name pictures and digits, keep verbal material in short-term memory, and categorize and discriminate sound contrasts in speech perception. To fully understand the dyslexic’s problems we have to investigate both children and adults since the problems might change during the lifespan as a result of changes in the language system and compensatory mechanisms in the poor reader. Research indicates that adult dyslexics can reach functional reading proficiency but still perform poorly on tasks of phonological processing. Even though they can manage many everyday reading situations problems often arise when adult dyslexics enter higher education. The phonological problems of dyslexics are believed to be related to the underlying phonological representations of the language. The phonological representations have been hypothesized to be weakly specified or indistinct and/or not enough segmented. Deviant phonological representations are believed to cause problems when the mapping of written language is to be made to the phonological representations of spoken language during reading acquisition. In Paper 1 adults’ phonological processing and reading habits were investigated in order to increase our understanding of how the reading problems develop into adulthood and what the social consequences are. The results showed that adult dyslexics remained impaired in their phonological processing and that they differed substantially from controls in their choices regarding higher education and also regarding reading habits. Paper 2 reviews research that has used the sine wave speech paradigm in studies of speech perception. The paper also gives a detailed description of how sine wave speech is made and how it can be characterized. Sine wave speech is a course grained description of natural speech lacking phonetic detail. In Paper 3 sine wave speech varying with regard to how much suprasegmental information it contains is employed. Results showed that dyslexics were poorer at identifying monosyllabic words but not disyllabic words and a sentence, plausibly because the dyslexics had problems identifying the phonetic information in monosyllabic words. Paper 4 tested dyslexics’ categorization performance of fricative-vowel syllables and the results showed that dyslexics were less consistent than controls in their categorization indicating poorer sensitivity to phonetic detail. In all the results of the thesis are in line with the phonological deficit hypothesis as revealed by adult data and the performance on task of speech perception. It is concluded that dyslexic children and adults seem to have less well specified phonological representations.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanics with which older adults activate and access different subdomains of their mental lexicons during word retrieval for picture naming. Method: Data were analyzed for 12 aging, native English speakers who performed a picture-word priming task. The auditory probe words were presented in the following conditions in relation to the picture stimuli: Identically related, strongly semantically related, weakly semantically related, strongly phonologically related, weakly phonologically related, semantically related to the strong phonological relative of the target picture label, or phonologically-related to the strong semantic relative of the target picture label. Event related potentials were used to measure picture-word priming effects. Results: Three main results were observed. First, our healthy aging adult participants evidenced strong activation of whole-word phonological representations as well as rhyme representations of target picture labels, but weakened activation of initial phoneme information. Second, they processed semantic information robustly. Finally, our participants appeared to experience phonological competition when accessing target picture labels. Conclusion: Results from this study suggest that healthy aging adults maintain efficient access to whole-word phonological representations, rhyme representations, and conceptual-semantic representations of target picture labels. However, in line with previously-reported findings, they do seem to evidence limited activation of initial phonological information on the path to picture naming.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This study investigated the effects of an explicit individualized phonemic awareness intervention administered by a speech-language pathologist to 4 prekindergarten children with phonological speech sound disorders. Research has demonstrated that children with moderate-severe expressive phonological disorders are at-risk for poor literacy development because they often concurrently exhibit weaknesses in the development of phonological awareness skills (Rvachew, Ohberg, Grawburg, & Heyding, 2003). The research design chosen for this study was a single subject multiple probe design across subjects. After stable baseline measures, the participants received explicit instruction in each of the three phases separately and sequentially. Dependent measures included same-day tests for Phase I (Phoneme Identity), Phase II (Phoneme Blending), and Phase III (Phoneme Segmentation), and generalization and maintenance tests for all three phases. All 4 participants made substantial progress in all three phases. These skills were maintained during weekly and biweekly maintenance measures. Generalization measures indicated that the participants demonstrated some increases in their mean total number of correct responses in Phase II and Phase III baseline while the participants were in Phase I intervention, and more substantial increases in Phase III baseline while the participants were in Phase II intervention. Increased generalization from Phases II to III could likely be explained due to the response similarities in those two skills (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). Based upon the findings of this study, speech-language pathologists should evaluate phonological awareness in the children in their caseloads prior to kindergarten entry, and should allocate time during speech therapy to enhance phonological awareness and letter knowledge to support the development of both skills concurrently. Also, classroom teachers should collaborate with speech-language pathologists to identify at-risk students in their classrooms and successfully implement evidence-based phonemic awareness instruction. Future research should repeat this study including larger groups of children, children with combined speech and language delays, children of different ages, and ESOL students

No description available.

<p>The goal of this study was to elucidate whether articulations of visual-speech are processed phonologically, and in the same manner as auditory-speech. Phonological processing, measured through the amplitude of the Phonological Mapping Negativity (PMN), was compared across three conditions using the electroencephalogram (EEG). Planned polynomial contrasts compared conditions of related and unrelated linguistic stimuli versus a non-linguistic control stimulus. A significant Site x Condition polynomial trend at posterior sites (Pz and Oz) during the N400 tine window revealed that the unrelated condition was most negative in amplitude, an N400-like deflection in the control condition reached similar negative amplitude, while the related condition was the most positive. A significant quadratic trend of PMN amplitude differentiated between the linguistic conditions and the non-linguistic control at site Fz, but did not differentiate the related and unrelated linguistic conditions from each other. These results support a conclusion that non-lexical speech-like and gurning motions of the lips are treated differently than articulations of a meaningful nature. Moreover, the PMN response patterned similarly in the linguistic conditions, compared to the non-linguistic control, indicating phonological processing. The prediction that PMN amplitude will distinguish visual-speech events congruent or incongruent to a phonologically constrained context was not supported.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

South Africa is a multilingual country and this has certain implications on the development of cognitive-linguistic skills such as phonological processing (amongst others), which are essential for reading development. Research has, in the past, not adequately addressed the development of, and relationship between, a broad range of phonological processing and reading skills in South Africa. The study investigates the relationship between phonological processing skills and reading development in Northern Sotho-English bilingual children. Ninety-eight participants, divided into group 1 (n=48) and group 2 (n=50) based on their Language of Learning Language of Teaching were sampled. Group 1 received literacy instruction in Northern Sotho, whilst group 2 in English. Participants were assessed using a battery of phonological processing tests and on reading abilities in English and Northern Sotho. Correlations, multiple regressions and multivariate analyses of variance were conducted. Findings revealed that phonological processing skills are essential in reading development in both the first and second language of the participants. / African Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)