The study I participated in was entitled “Word Identification Task,” and the researcher was Professor S.L. Anya Lunden. For this computer study, I was required to listen to a series of sentences, each following the same format and containing one made-up word. After I heard the sentence, the computer screen presented two options of possible words, and I had to select which made-up word was closest to the one I heard. The sentences all followed the format of “I saw a [A] [B] there.” In each sentence, [A] was either “happy,” “sneaky,” “blue,” or “bamboo.” Likewise, in each sentence, the made-up word [B] was either “ost,” “wost,” or “yost.” In this study, the researchers wished to determine if changing the lengths of vowels preceding the made-up words in the given sentences changed listeners’ perception of the first sound of the made-up words.
The sounds of the consonants “y” and “w” are called glides, and were the sounds being tested for in this study. For example, in the sentence “I saw the sneaky yost there,” the “ee” sound of the end of the word “sneaky” might be lengthened or shortened to influence my perception of the first sound of the subsequent word, “yost.” The length of the vowel of the preceding word was anywhere from 60 to 80 milliseconds and changed each sentence by 10 milliseconds. The researchers discovered that, typically, the longer or more drawn out the vowel of the preceding word, the more likely listeners are to perceive the subsequent word as beginning with a glide, “w” or “y.” Therefore, they would hear “wost” or “yost.” The shorter or less drawn out the vowel of the preceding word, the more likely listeners are to perceive the subsequent word as beginning with a vowel, “o.” In this case, they would hear “ost.” After completing the study, I was informed that all the made-up words I had heard actually began with either “w” or “y,” so “ost” was not in fact a true option. However, I sometimes perceived “ost” if the ending vowel of the preceding real word was shorter than in other cases. This phenomenon was only recently noted, and as such, has not yet been named, but it is likely applicable to other languages as well.
I would classify this study as an experiment, and an interdisciplinary study relevant to the NQR and CSI domains, as well as course material. The researchers wished to determine if there was a causal relationship between the lengths of vowels at the ends of words and the perception of the first sound of subsequent words. Therefore, they were not attempting to ascertain whether these two variables occurred simultaneously, but whether one in fact causes the other. This indicates that the study was most likely experimental. The study also investigated issues related to both psychology and linguistics. The researchers’ discovery that changing the duration of certain sounds in words influences the way that we perceive sounds of subsequent words can be explained in terms of either psychology or linguistics, by looking at mental processes or elements of language, respectively. The study essentially analyzes the impact of elements of language on the function of hearing, and therefore examines the causal relationship between a linguistic concept and a psychological concept. Because both psychology and linguistics span both the NQR and CSI domains, I think that this study addresses issues relevant to both domains.
The study can be classified under the NQR domain because it uses the scientific process, collecting data to test a hypothesis. However, it can also be classified under the CSI domain because it explains a particular phenomenon in the English language, which could have potential societal ramifications. An understanding of the linguistic “rule” discovered by the researchers of this study could perhaps illuminate why people tend to incorrectly perceive some words if they are spoken in a certain order, which is an issue relevant to the communication and mutual understanding of people in a particular society or culture. This study also relates to course material; it is particularly relevant to the chapter “Language and Thought” because it examines a linguistic phenomenon like others studied in class, such as overregularization or the hypothesis of linguistic relativity. It also touches on concepts studied in the chapter “Sensation and Perception” because it focuses on the sense of hearing and how the order of words in sentences and the duration of different sounds influences what we hear. Therefore, this study is related to both the CSI and NQR domains, and also illustrates similar concepts to the ones studied in the course.
The “Word Identification Task” study revealed to me that one’s perception of sounds can differ greatly depending on preceding sounds. Exposing listeners to sentences of a mostly fixed structure, changing only two words in each sentence, the researchers were able to identify a pattern in listeners’ perception. This pattern revealed that changing the duration of vowel sounds in words did in fact alter the way that listeners perceived the beginning sounds of subsequent words. Further research on this discovery will surely yield more theories as to its practical application, but in the meantime, I was fascinated to learn how much our perception of words is subject to seemingly infinitesimal changes in the sounds of other words.