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Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

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Why um helps auditory word recognition: the temporal delay hypothesis.

Martin Corley¹, Robert J Hartsuiker

¹School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Martin.Corley@ed.ac.uk

|May 26, 2011

Summary

Filled pauses like "uh" and "um" can improve speech understanding. Research shows that any delay before a word, whether filled or silent, aids auditory word recognition.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Psycholinguistics
Auditory Processing

Background:

Filled pauses (e.g., "uh", "um") are common in speech.
Previous research suggests filled pauses can improve speech understanding and word recognition.
The mechanism behind this benefit is debated: whether pauses signal upcoming information or simply cause delays.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether filled pauses benefit auditory word recognition by delaying upcoming words or by signaling delays.
To determine if the benefit of delays is specific to filled pauses or applies to any delay.
To examine the interaction between delay type, word difficulty, and listener response times.

Main Methods:

Three experiments were conducted using a visual-auditory task.
Participants responded to image recognition tasks based on recorded instructions.
Instructions included delays before image names, with delays being filled (spoken "um"), silent, or containing an artificial tone.
Image difficulty was manipulated (easy vs. difficult recognition).

Main Results:

Participants responded faster to easy images than difficult ones.
Crucially, participants were quicker to respond when image names were directly preceded by a delay, irrespective of whether the delay was filled, silent, or tonal.
This benefit of delay was consistent and did not interact with image difficulty or change over time.

Conclusions:

Delays, regardless of their nature (filled or silent), facilitate auditory word recognition.
The benefit of filled pauses in speech understanding can be attributed to the delay they introduce, not necessarily to a signaling function.
These findings suggest that natural speech delays do not need to be interpreted as signals to explain their positive impact on listeners.