Experience, attention, and context in the processing of systematic variation in spoken language

Abstract

The acoustic speech signal is characterized by enormous variability. Characteristics of individual speakers and groups of speakers profoundly change the way in which linguistic structure is realized. A substantial body of research suggests that language users track, retain, and use systematic variation to restructure linguistic representation and processing in order to maximize intelligibility of spoken language. Less clear is whether sources of variation differ in relevance during speech processing and how relevance changes as a function of experience and context. Research will be presented examining talker-, task-, and listener-related factors that mediate memory and learning of systematic variation in spoken language. The findings suggest that although listeners dynamically adapt to systematic changes in linguistic structure as a function of experience, this adaptation depends on the characteristics and frequency of particular sources of variations, the modulation of attention driven by the structure of the learning environment, and expectations and subsequent sensitivity to socially relevant variation. The considerable behavioral and representational plasticity that is characteristic of speech perception and spoken language processing may depend in part on the social, linguistic, and contextual relevance of the variation associated with both individual talkers and classes of talkers.