Spoken communication in context: Integrating language as a discriminative code into enactive cognition

Spoken communication is only one of many types of human interaction with the environment. The aim of this thesis is to propose a theory of spoken communication based on basic principles of cognition, which govern all our behaviour. To this end, two established theoretical positions are integrated: 1) the skilled intentionality framework (an enactive view of cognition) and 2) a discriminative approach to human communication. According to the resulting theory, communication is a skilful shaping of an interlocutor's envi- ronment which serves to fulfil the agent's positively biased expectations about her own situation. Language is presented as an assemblage of sociomaterial regularities that make this skilful behaviour possible. The suggested perspec- tive is radically action-oriented, in contrast with traditional representational, content-based approaches. The proposed view is then applied to two specific phenomena widely studied within speech sciences (namely categoricality of speech and turn taking) and is confronted with selected empirical findings. Possibilities of empirical testing of the suggested theory are discussed

Mluvená komunikace v kontextu: Začlenění jazyka jakožto diskriminativního kódu do enaktivní kognice

Spoken communication is only one of many types of human interaction with the environment. The aim of this thesis is to propose a theory of spoken communication based on basic principles of cognition, which govern all our behaviour. To this end, two established theoretical positions are integrated: 1) the skilled intentionality framework (an enactive view of cognition) and 2) a discriminative approach to human communication. According to the resulting theory, communication is a skilful shaping of an interlocutor's envi- ronment which serves to fulfil the agent's positively biased expectations about her own situation. Language is presented as an assemblage of sociomaterial regularities that make this skilful behaviour possible. The suggested perspec- tive is radically action-oriented, in contrast with traditional representational, content-based approaches. The proposed view is then applied to two specific phenomena widely studied within speech sciences (namely categoricality of speech and turn taking) and is confronted with selected empirical findings. Possibilities of empirical testing of the suggested theory are discussed.Mluvená komunikace je pouze jedním z druhů interakce mezi člověkem a jeho prostředím. Cílem této práce je navrhnout takovou teorii mluvené komu- nikace, jež by vycházela ze základních principů kognice řídících veškeré naše jednání. Za tímto účelem jsou integrovány dvě již existující teoretické pozice: 1) enaktivní pojetí kognice zvané skilled intentionality framework; a 2) teorie lidské komunikace založená na diskriminaci. Podle výsledného návrhu spočívá komunikace v tom, že mluvčí dovedně ovlivňuje prostředí svého komunikačního partnera ve snaze naplnit svá pozitivní očekávání ohledně vlastní situace. Jazyk je představen jako soubor sociomateriálních pravidelností, díky nimž je získání takovéto dovednosti vůbec možné. Primární roli hraje v tomto přístupu jednání, což jej odlišuje od teorií orientovaných na sdílení obsahu a na mentální jazykové reprezentace. Navržená teorie je pak aplikována na dvě témata hojně studovaná v řečových vědách (kategoriálnost řeči a turn taking, tj. střídání replik v konverzaci) a konfrontována s vybranými empir- ickými poznatky. Nakonec jsou diskutovány možnosti empirického testování její adekvátnosti.Fonetický ústavInstitute of PhoneticsFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

Neural processing of spectral and durational changes in speech and non-speech stimuli: an MMN study with Czech adults

Neural discrimination of auditory contrasts is usually studied via the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the event-related potentials (ERPs). In the processing of speech contrasts, the magnitude of MMN is determined by both the acoustic as well as the phonological distance between stimuli. Also, the MMN can be modulated by the order in which the stimuli are presented, thus indexing perceptual asymmetries in speech sound processing. Here we assessed the MMN elicited by two types of phonological contrasts, namely vowel quality and vowel length, assuming that both will elicit a comparably strong MMN as both are phonemic in the listeners’ native language (Czech) and perceptually salient. Furthermore, we tested whether these phonemic contrasts are processed asymmetrically, and whether the asymmetries are acoustically or linguistically conditioned. The MMN elicited by the spectral change between /a/ and /ε/ was comparable to the MMN elicited by the durational change between /ε/ and /ε:/, suggesting that both types of contrasts are perceptually important for Czech listeners. The spectral change in vowels yielded an asymmetrical pattern manifested by a larger MMN response to the change from /ε/ to /a/ than from /a/ to /ε/. The lack of such an asymmetry in the MMN to the same spectral change in comparable non-speech stimuli spoke against an acoustically-based explanation, indicating that it may instead have been the phonological properties of the vowels that triggered the asymmetry. The potential phonological origins of the asymmetry are discussed within the featurally underspecified lexicon (FUL) framework, and conclusions are drawn about the perceptual relevance of the place and height features for the Czech /ε/-/a/ contrast