Speech Comprehension

Anastasia Bondarenko
18FPL-2
Plan
• Comprehension of sounds
• Comprehension of words
• Comprehension of sentences
• Comprehension of texts
• Conclusions
• linguistic information is not processed linearly;
• understanding speech is an active process, in which hearers process
and reconstruct the intended message;
• word is the minimum unit of conscious speech comprehension;
when it comes to reading, the operating units can be larger;
• at the level of meaning, people predict the probability of both the
semantic deployment of the text, and the grammar.
Comprehension of sounds
• It was found that the eel was on the axle.
• It was found that the eel was on the shoe.
• It was found that the eel was on the orange.
• It was found that the eel was on the table.
Listeners insert a certain phoneme depending on the context –
phoneme restoration effect.
Comprehension of sounds
• Voice Onset Time (VOT) – the interval between consonant onset
and the start of rhythmic vocal-cord vibrations.
• People tend to categorize the slightest phonetic differences in a
non-continual fashion because of categorical perception.