The role of syntactic/semantic structure in the motor programming of speech by 5-year-olds, 8-year olds, and adults was investigated. Subjects repeated sentences, each at maximum rate, on numerous, consecutive trials. Linguistically simple and complex sentence types, matched on rhythm, were selected for each age. On a current model, linguistic structure determines programming unit size with increased size resulting in shorter and less variable repetition durations. Repetition durations were found to be shorter for simple than for complex sentences at all ages. However, linguistic complexity affected durational variability only for adults. A new model is proposed to account for these results.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abbeduto, L. ( 1982). Syntactic and semantic influencies on the motor programming of speech: Developmental differences and similarities. Doctoral dissertation , University of Illinois at Chicago.
2.
Abbeduto, L. ( 1985). Syntactic, semantic, and rhythmic influences on children's and adult's motor programming of speech. Unpublished manuscript , Vanderbilt University.
3.
Bassett, M.R., O'Connell, D.C. and Monahan, W.J. ( 1977). Pausological aspects of children's narratives . Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 9, 166-168.
4.
Bebout, L.J., Segalowitz, S.J. and White, G.J. ( 1980). Children's comprehension of causal constructions with "because" and "so." Child Development, 51, 565 -568.
5.
Chomsky, N. ( 1957). Syntactic Structures (The Hague).
6.
Chomsky, C. ( 1969). The Acquisition of Syntax in Children from 5 to 10 (Cambridge, MA).
7.
Cohen, J.A. ( 1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales . Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37-46.
8.
Cooper, W.E., Paccia, J.M. and Lapointe, S.G. ( 1978). Hierarchical coding in speech timing, Cognitive Psychology, 10, 154-177.
9.
Corrigan, R. ( 1975). A scalogram analysis of the development of the use of and comprehension of "because" in children. Child Development , 46, 195-201.
10.
Emerson, H.F. ( 1979). Children's comprehension of "because" in reversible and nonreversible sentences. Journal of Child Language, 6, 279-300.
11.
Fabian-Krauss, V. and Ammon, P. ( 1980). Assessing linguistic competence: When are children hard to understand? Journal of Child Language, 7, 401-412.
12.
FLORES d'ARCAIS, G.B. (1978). The acquisition of the subordinating constructions in children's language. In R.N. Campbell and P.T. Smith (eds.), Recent Advances in the Psychology of Language: Language Development and Mother-Child Interaction (New York), pp. 349-393.
13.
Gilbert, J.H.V. ( 1977). A voice onset time analysis of apical stop production in 3-year-olds. Journal of Child Language, 3, 103-110.
14.
Gilbert, J.H.V. and Purves, B.A. ( 1977). Temporal constraints on consonant clusters in child speech production. Journal of Child Language, 4, 417-432.
15.
Hawkins, P.R. ( 1971). The syntactic location of hesitation pauses. Language and Speech, 14, 277-288.
16.
Jarvella, R.J. and Herman, S.J. ( 1973). Speed and accuracy of sentence recall: Effects of ear of presentation, semantics, and grammar. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 97, 108-110.
17.
Jarvella, R.J. ( 1977). From verbs to sentences: Some experimental studies of predication. In S. Rosenberg (ed.), Sentence Production: Developments in Research and Theory (Hillsdale), pp. 275-305.
18.
Jones, P.A. and Mcmillan, W.B. ( 1973). Speech characteristics as a function of social class and situational factors. Child Development, 44, 119-121.
19.
Katz, E. and Brent, S. ( 1968). Understanding connectives. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 7, 501-509.
20.
Kent, R.D. and Forner, L.L. ( 1980). Speech segment durations in sentence recitations by children and adults. Journal of Phonetics, 8, 157-168.
21.
Kowal, S., O'Connell, D.C. and Sabin, E.J. ( 1975). Development of temporal patterning and vocal hesitations in spontaneous narratives. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research , 4, 195-207.
22.
Kozhevnikov, V.A. and Chistovich, L.A. ( 1965). Speech: Articulation and Perception [translated from the Russian by the Joint Publication Research Service] (Washington, D.C.) .
23.
Kučera, H. and Francis, W.N. ( 1967). Computational Analysis of Present Day American English (Providence).
24.
Kuhn, D. and Phelps, H. ( 1976). The development of children's comprehension of causal direction. Child Development, 47, 248-251.
25.
Lackner, J.R. and Levine, K.B. ( 1975). Speech production: Evidence for syntactically and phonologically determined units. Perception and Psychophysics , 17, 107-113.
26.
Leeper, H.A. and Woodward, R.E. ( 1978). Temporal characteristics of topic- and picture-elicited speech of children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 496-498.
27.
Levin, H and Silverman, I. (1965). Hesitation phenomena in children's speech. Language and Speech , 8, 67-85.
28.
Levin, H., Silverman, I. and Ford, B.L. ( 1967). Hesitations in children's speech during explanations and descriptions. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior , 6, 560-564.
29.
Mackay, D.G. ( 1982). The problems of flexibility, fluency, and speed-accuracy trade-off in skilled behavior. Psychological Review, 89, 483-506.
30.
Mackay, D.G. and Bowman, R.W. ( 1969). On producing the meaning in sentences. American Journal of Psychology, 82, 23-37.
31.
Morsbach, G. and Steel, P.M. ( 1976). 'John is easy to see' revisited. Journal of Child Language, 3,443-447.
32.
Owens, R.E., Jr. ( 1984). Language Development: An Introduction (Columbus) .
33.
Perry, F.L. and Shwedel, A. ( 1979). Interaction of visual information, verbal information, and lingustic competence in the preschool-aged child. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 8, 559-566.
34.
Sabin, E.J., Clemmer, E.J., O'Connell, D.C. and Kowal, S. ( 1979). A pausological approach to speech development . In A.W. Siegman and S. Feldstein (eds.), Of Speech Time: Temporal Speech Patterns in Interpersonal Contexts (Hillsdale ), pp. 35-55.
35.
Shattuck, S. and Lackner, J.R. ( 1975). Speech production: Contribution of syntactic structure . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 40, 931-936.
36.
Sternberg, S., Monsell, S., Knoll, R.L. and Wright, C.E. ( 1978). The latency and duration of rapid movement sequences: Comparisons of speech and typewriting. In G.E. Stelmach (ed.), Information Processing in Motor Control and Learning (New York), pp. 117-152.
37.
Tingley, B.M. and Allen, G.D. ( 1975). Development of speech timing control in children . Child Development, 46, 186-194.
