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Extending a Formal Model of Predictive Coding to Human Spoken Word Recognition
Bryce Rogers1, Monica Yi-Chen Li2, Thomas Hannagan3,4
1School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, U.S.A. bryce.e.rogers@gmail.com.
Neural Computation
|August 14, 2026
Summary
Human speech recognition involves predictive processing. A new neural network model shows predictive coding (PC) can explain some, but not all, neural patterns observed during spoken word recognition (SWR).
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Computational Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Theories of human speech recognition posit predictive processing during online processing.
- Predictive coding (PC) is a proposed mechanism, involving predictions and prediction errors (PE).
- Previous PC models lacked the scope to adequately simulate human spoken word recognition (SWR) behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present the first neurally and behaviorally adequate, mathematically formal neural network PC model of time-dependent human SWR.
- To test whether established neural signatures of PC in SWR emerge from this model.
- To evaluate the implications for PC-based theories of SWR.
Main Methods:
- Developed a novel, mathematically formal neural network PC model for SWR.
- Validated the model's ability to emulate the time course of lexical activation and competition in human SWR.
- Compared model dynamics against neural performance targets previously associated with PC in SWR.
Main Results:
- The model successfully emulated a key empirical signature of human SWR behavior.
- The model exhibited predictive processing and reduced neural activity when inputs matched expectations.
- Subtle neural activity patterns under priming and noise, previously linked to PC, did not significantly emerge in the model.
Conclusions:
- The developed PC model provides a plausible account of predictive processing in SWR.
- Certain neural patterns previously considered hallmarks of PC may not be specific to this mechanism.
- Findings necessitate a re-evaluation of the diagnostic criteria for PC in theories of SWR.
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