1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Use of lip-read information in speech perception and its relation to second language proficiency
| Project/Area Number |
08610076
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
実験系心理学
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| Research Institution | Kanazawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
SEKIYAMA Kaoru Kanazawa University, Faculty of Letters, Instructor, 文学部, 助手 (70216539)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1997
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| Keywords | audiovisual speech perception / audiovisual integration / McGurk effect / inter-language differences / second language acquisition / lipreading |
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| Research Abstract |
The McGurk effect is an audiovisual illusion which shows that visual lip information is integrated with conflicting auditory information during speech perception, demonstrating that speech perception is not a solely auditory process in face-to-face communication, but a multimodal process. Our previous research has shown that the McGurk effect is stronger for auditory speech in foreign languages both in native speakers of Japanese and American English, although the visual effect is weaker for the Japanese than for the Americans. The present study investigated such linguistic factors in audiovisual speech perception.
In Experiment 1, native speakers of Chinese were tested with Japanese and English stimuli. The McGurk effect was as weak as for our previously tested Japanese subjects, suggesting an audition-biased manner of processing in the Chinese subjects as well. These subjects, who lived in Japan after finishing college in China, showed a positive correlation between the time they had spent in Japan and the size of the McGurk effect.
In Experiment 2, we tested the "foreign language effect hypothesis" that the McGurk effect is stronger for auditory speech in foreign languages, by testing native speakers of Chinese and Japanese with Chinese and Japanese stimuli. The results showed that the hypothesis was true only for the Japanese subjects and that the Chinese subjects did not show any differences between the Japanese and Chinese stimuli.
Experiment 3 examined the effect of second language (Japanese) proficiency on the McGurk effect, by testing forty six native speakers of Chinese. The results suggested some evidence for such an effect, but there were extra variables such as age which should be controlled before a definite conclusion.
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