Michael H. Kelly

Phonological information for grammatical category assignments

Abstract During language acquisition, children must learn how to classify words into the appropriate grammatical category, such as noun or verb. Adults must also assign words to grammatical categories quickly and accurately. Most theories of this task focus on strategies that exploit semantic and/or syntactic correlates of grammatical class. This paper examines a relatively neglected source of information for grammatical category: phonology. Study one demonstrates that English verbs contain fewer syllables than English nouns, a difference that appears strongly in both adult-adult language and parental speech to children. Studies three and four provide evidence that adults and children are sensitive to this difference. Study three reports that adults use pseudowords more often in sentences as verbs if their syllable number is small, whereas they use pseudowords as nouns more often if their syllable number is large. Study four reports that 4-year old children associate pseudowords with actions (the prototypical verb meaning) more often than objects (the prototypical noun meaning) if the pseudowords contain one rather than three syllables. The relevance of the noun-verb syllable difference for connectionist models of linguistic knowledge is discussed. In addition, possible causes of the syllable number difference between nouns and verbs are proposed and evaluated in study two.

Orthographic cues to lexical stress: Effects on naming and lexical decision

Words whose spellings represent regular phonemic patterns, such asmint, show advantages in naming and lexical decision tasks over words, such aspint, that have exceptional relations between orthographic and phonemic patterns. We have extended such phenomena to the domain of lexical stress, by showing that disyllabic words whose spellings are consistent with their stress are easier to process than words whose spellings are misleading about stress. Such words are named more quickly and are pronounced with incorrect stress less often (Experiment 1). They are also classified more quickly and accurately in lexical decision tasks (Experiments 2 and 3). These results indicate that literate speakers have learned orthographic correlates to lexical stress in English. In addition, the similarities between results in the phonemic and prosodic domains indicate that models of reading developed for the former could be extended to the latter area.

Domain-general abilities applied to domain-specific tasks: Sensitivity to probabilities in perception, cognition, and language

Abstract Perceptual and cognitive abilities that are species- and domain-specific may nonetheless have components that are widespread across species and apply to numerous domains. For example, all theories of sentence parsing are constrained by the operations of a limited-capacity memory that is a general characteristic of cognition. This paper discusses another ability that is general across species and, within a species, across numerous cognitive and perceptual domains. We review evidence from the animal learning and human cognitive literature that animals (a) possess fine- grained sensitivity to probabilistic patterns in their environment and (b) use multiple probabilistic cues to solve particular problems. Such sensitivity is advantageous because the structure of the environment itself can often be characterized as probabilistic. The chances of success at solving various problems, from foraging to depth perception, would therefore increase if animals were sensitive to probabilistic cues and could determine whether multiple cues converge on a solution. We discuss the implications of these claims for language processing, and argue that the domain- general ability to detect and exploit probabilistic information is brought to bear on numerous language-specific problems.

Phonological biases in grammatical category shifts

Abstract English disyllabic nouns and verbs differ in stress, with nouns showing stress primarily on the first syllable (trochaic pattern) and verbs showing stress on the second syllable (iambic pattern). This paper explores whether speakers have abstracted this pattern, and whether such knowledge affects a creative use of language: Shifting a word into a new grammatical category. The first of three experiments showed that speakers are more likely to use a novel disyllabic word as a noun in a sentence if it has a trochaic rather than an iambic pattern. Studies two and three found that speakers are more likely to use an established noun as a verb if it has an iambic rather than trochaic stress pattern. However, shifts from verb to noun were more common for trochaic patterns. These results agree with historical data on grammatical category shifts, and show that words from one category will be assimilated to another to the extent that they share phonological features typical of the second category. These phonological effects supplement accounts of grammatical category shifts that are based on semantic/pragmatic factors.

Inferring gender from name phonology.

English male and female names have different phonological properties. This article examines 3 questions about this phenomenon: How informative is phonology about gender? Have English speakers learned this information? Does this knowledge affect name usage? Results from a connectionist model indicate that English phonology predicts name gender quite well. Experiments found that English speakers have learned these cues. For example, names were classified as male or female more quickly and accurately when they had phonologically typical properties. Further studies demonstrated that the evolution of names in this century was affected by how male or female they sounded and that knowledge of phonological cues to gender influences the perception and structure of brand names. Implications for stereotyping, individual differences, and language research are discussed.

Children's use of phonology to infer grammatical class in vocabulary learning.

Prior studies of the relationship between phonological information and grammatical category assignment have focused on whether these relationships exist and whether people have learned them. This study investigates whether these relationships affect preschool children’s vocabulary acquisition in a laboratory setting. Child participants learned 12 vocabulary words (6 nouns and 6 verbs) under three conditions, in which, (1) the syllable number/grammatical category relationship matched English, (2) the syllable number/grammatical category relationship was opposite to English, or (3) there was no relationship between syllable number and grammatical category. In the initial presentation of the words, children assumed that the novel words matched the pattern found in English. When the syllable number/grammatical category pattern matched that of English, the children learned more of the words. Phonological information also predicted error patterns. These results suggest that any account of vocabulary acquisition should consider the role of phonological information.

Representational momentum in memory for pitch.

When a visual pattern is displayed at successively different orientations such that a rotation or translation is implied, an observers memory for the final position is displaced forward. This phenomenon of representational momentum shares some similarities with physical momentum. For instance, the amount of memory shift is proportional to the implied velocity of the inducing display; representational momentum is specifically proportional to the final, not the average, velocity; representational momentum follows a continuous stopping function for the first 250 ms or so of the retention interval. In a previous paper (Kelly & Freyd, 1987) we demonstrated a forward memory asymmetry using implied changes in pitch, for subjects without formal musical training. In the current paper we replicate our earlier finding and show that the forward memory asymmetry occurs for subjects with formal musical training as well (Experiment 1). We then show the structural similarity between representational momentum in memory for pitch with previous reports of parametric effects using visual stimuli. We report a velocity effect for auditory momentum (Experiment 2), we demonstrate specifically that the velocity effect depends on the implied acceleration (Experiment 3), and we show that the stopping function for auditory momentum is qualitatively the same as that for visual momentum (Experiment 4). We consider the implications of these results for theories of mental representation.

Rhythmic alternation and lexical stress differences in English

Abstract An account is given for the evolution of strong-weak (trochaic) stress on disyllabic English nouns and weak-strong (iambic) stress on disyllabic English verbs. This explanation draws on two claims: (1) Language users adjust the stress patterns on words so that alternations between strong and weak beats are created (the principle of rhythmic alternation) and (2) Nouns and verbs tend to appear in different rhythmic contexts, such that verbs are more likely than nouns to be biased toward iambic stress. Analyses of spoken and written samples of English revealed that disyllabic verbs were more likely than disyllabic nouns to receive an inflection that adds a syllable onto the word. Because such syllables are weakly stressed, rhythmic alternation would be created if the disyllabic word received stress on the second syllable (e.g., “suggesting”) rather than the first (“promising”). Two experiments showed that stress assignments on pseudowords such as “cortand” are in fact varied depending on the syllabic nature of inflections added to the words. In addition, the text analyses and experiments can account for specific subpatterns within the noun-verb stress asymmetry as well as the general asymmetry itself. Implications of these findings for theories of word stress are discussed, as well as the more general point that patterns of language change can be understood in terms of language processing at the level of the individual speaker or listener.

Percutaneous patent foramen ovale and atrial septal defect closure in adults: Results and device comparison in 100 consecutive implants at a single center

Closure of interatrial septal defects with percutaneous devices is increasingly common. However, the indications for closure and techniques for device implantation are diverse. We reviewed our first 100 consecutive implants to assess and compare the indications, results, complications, and evolution of techniques for percutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) and atrial septal defect (ASD) closure. The mean age of patients was 52 years and 70% were female. Paradoxical embolism was the predominant indication (94%) for PFO closure and significant left‐to‐right shunt was the most frequent indication (89%) for ASD closure. Implantation success was 94% with major complications in 3 patients (2.8%). Transesophageal echocardiography was utilized in the initial 27 procedures and then replaced by intracardiac echocardiography in subsequent ones, with an associated reduction in procedure and physician time. During 6 months of follow‐up, 3 patients were readmitted for atrial arrhythmias (2 patients) and an MRI‐negative neurologic event (1 patient). Echocardiography at 6 months in 83% of the PFO patients revealed moderate and severe positive contrast studies for right‐to‐left shunting in one third of patients, with differences between devices and insertion techniques. This single‐center experience with percutaneous device closure of PFO and ASD in adults demonstrates excellent results with few complications. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2005;64:197–203.

Natural rhythmic patterns in English verse: Evidence from child counting-out rhymes

Abstract Counting-out rhymes are part of an oral tradition whose primary participants are children. These facts are used to justify the claim that the rhythmic structure of counting-out rhymes can be attributed to natural preferences more readily than could the structure of formal verse considered alone. The first study uncovered a number of similarities between formal and counting-out verse. The rhythm of counting-out rhymes is constrained by the principle of rhythmic alternation, the nuclear stress and compound rules, and foot boundaries. In addition, both trochaic and iambic meters seem to exist as natural categories in counting-out rhymes. Finally, children appear to associate different grammatical categories with different degrees of stress, in a manner very similar to patterns found in adult verse. The second study explored the variants of one common counting-out rhyme and reports changes that preserve or improve the poetics of the rhyme. The discussion offers one definition of what a “natural” rhythmic pattern in verse might mean: A pattern that has parallels in the rhythmic structure of ordinary speech. This definition makes the study of verse attractive to psycholinguists for three reasons. First, factors that influence speech rhythm can be examined for their relevance to poetic rhythm, a possibility that renders tractable the psycholinguistic study of one form of language creativity. Second, hypotheses about the rhythmic structure of speech can be formulated from knowledge of poetic rhythm. Finally, studying the structure of child verse could foster understanding of the acquisition of prosodic rules, an area that has been relatively neglected in developmental psycholinguistics.