Abstract
The constant internal monitoring of speech is a crucial feature to ensure the fairly error-free process of speech production. It has been argued that internal speech monitoring takes place through detection of conflict between different response options or “speech plans.” Speech errors are thought to occur because two (or more) competing speech plans become activated, and the speaker is unable to inhibit the erroneous plan(s) prior to vocalization. A prime example for a speech plan that has to be suppressed is the involuntary utterance of a taboo word. The present study seeks to examine the suppression of involuntary taboo word utterances. We used the “Spoonerisms of Laboratory Induced Predisposition” (SLIP) paradigm to elicit two competing speech plans, one being correct and one embodying either a taboo word or a non-taboo word spoonerism. Behavioral data showed that inadequate speech plans generally were effectively suppressed, although more effectively in the taboo word spoonerism condition. Event-related potential (ERP) analysis revealed a broad medial frontal negativity (MFN) after the target word pair presentation, interpreted as reflecting conflict detection and resolution to suppress the inadequate speech plan. The MFN was found to be more pronounced in the taboo word spoonerism compared to the neutral word spoonerism condition, indicative of a higher level of conflict when subjects suppressed the involuntary utterance of taboo words.
Highlights
The constant internal monitoring of speech is a crucial feature of human cognition and the basis for the rapid, seemingly effortless and fairly error-free process of our speech production.One way to try model internal speech monitoring is the perceptual loop theory: The monitor uses the speech perception system for trouble detection, and initiates the processes of interruption and repair in parallel (Levelt, 1983; Hartsuiker and Kolk, 2001; Hartsuiker, 2014)
It has been argued that internal speech monitoring takes place through detection of conflict between response options, which is subsequently resolved by a domain general executive center, localized in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (Nozari et al, 2011; Gauvin et al, 2016)
Speech monitoring has been linked to conflict monitoring (Nozari et al, 2011; Gauvin et al, 2016), as reflected e.g., in the error-related negativity (ERN) and the N2 and medial frontal negativity (MFN) components, and it has been speculated that conflict between representations of intended and actual speech may be a reliable method for detecting speech errors (Yeung et al, 2004; Nozari et al, 2011)
Summary
The constant internal monitoring of speech is a crucial feature of human cognition and the basis for the rapid, seemingly effortless and fairly error-free process of our speech production. Inadequate speech plans have to be suppressed This in particular is essential, if the articulation of the erroneous speech plan would be socially objectionable, e.g., in the case of the (involuntary) utterance of taboo words or phrases. The importance of the adequate suppression of (involuntary) taboo word utterance is supported by the finding that subjects intercept more taboo than neutral errors (Motley et al, 1981; Dhooge and Hartsuiker, 2011). We use the SLIP paradigm in an EEG study to examine the involuntary utterance of taboo words, or the suppression of the involuntary taboo word utterance, respectively – that is, the detection of conflict between two competing speech plans (i.e., between two competing representations of articulatory gestures) and the suppression of the inadequate speech plan (Möller et al, 2007). Behavioral expectations for our experiment were that more neutral word spoonerisms than taboo word spoonerisms would occur, as described in previous studies (Motley et al, 1981; Dhooge and Hartsuiker, 2011; but e.g., Severens et al, 2011, found more taboo than non-taboo errors)
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