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Effects of Sign Language Experience on Categorical Perception of Dynamic ASL Pseudosigns

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Effects of Sign Language Experience on Categorical Perception of Dynamic ASL Pseudosigns Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 2010, 72 (3), 747-762 doi:10.3758/APP.72.3.747 Effects of sign language experience on categorical perception of dynamic ASL pseudosigns CATHERINE T. BEST University of Western Sydney, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia and Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut GAURAV MATHUR Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. and Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut KAREN A. M IRANDA Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, Boston, Massachusetts AND DIANE LI ll O -MARTIN University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut and Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut We investigated effects of sign language experience on deaf and hearing participants’ categorical perception of minimal manual contrast stimuli that met key criteria of speech perception research. A continuum of meaningless dynamic stimuli was created with a morphing approach, which manipulated videorecorded productions of phono- tactically permissible pseudosigns differing between American Sign Language (ASL) handshapes that contrast on a single articulatory dimension (U–V: finger-spreading). AXB discrimination and AXB categorization and goodness ratings on the target items were completed by deaf early (native) signers (DE), deaf late (nonnative) signers (DL), hearing late (L2) signers (HL), and hearing nonsigners (HN). Categorization and goodness functions were less categorical and had different boundaries for DL participants than for DE and HL participants. Shape and level of discrimination functions also differed by ASL experience and hearing status, with DL signers showing better perfor- mance than DE, HL, and especially HN participants, particularly at the U end of the continuum. Although no group displayed a peak in discrimination at the category boundary, thus failing to support classic categorical perception, discrimination was consistent with categorization in other ways that differed among the groups. Thus, perception of phonetic variations underlying this minimal sign contrast is systematically affected by language experience. Sign languages are naturally occurring languages used formational properties (Brentari, 1998; Liddell & John- by members of deaf communities throughout the world. son, 1989; Sandler, 1989). Each sign language employs its Although they capitalize on visible actions of the hands own rule-governed combinations of a constrained subset and arms instead of audible actions of vocal tract articula- of contrastive manual features as the basis for linguisti- tors, established sign languages display the full array of cally permissible forms in its lexical inventory. These for- hierarchically organized linguistic levels found in spoken mational features are described according to three or four languages (Sandler & Lillo-Martin, 2006). The interest of parameters: handshape, location, movement, and, in some the present research was in sign–speech correspondence in approaches, orientation (Battison, 1978; Stokoe, Caster- the perceptual effects of language experience at the foun- line, & Cronberg, 1965). Handshape refers to specific dational level of linguistic structure—specifically, the pho- configurations of fingers and thumb; for example, in the nological level: formational elements that provide coher- V handshape of American Sign Language (ASL), the index ent, systematic internal structure to a language’s basic units and middle fingers are extended and spread, but the thumb of meaning (words or morphemes). The internal structure and other fingers are closed (completely flexed). Location of words in spoken languages appears as rule-governed indicates a position on the face, body, or area in front of combinations of consonants and vowels (phonological seg- the signer to or from which the hand moves—for example, ments). Signs have analogous internal phonological struc- when the dominant hand contacts the nondominant hand’s ture, instantiated as systematic combinations of manual palm. Movement describes the action that the hand/arm C. T. Best, [email protected] 747 © 2010 The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 748 BEST , MATHUR , MIRANDA , AND LI ll O -MARTIN performs—for example, a single arced movement between minimal sign contrast and examined how it is influenced two locations. Orientation specifies the direction the palm by varying experience with the target sign language, ASL, is facing, relative to the signer or in a 3-D Cartesian system and/or with spoken English. in front of the signer, as when, for example, the dominant In categorical perception, perceivers display a sharp hand’s palm faces the signer. boundary in differential categorizations of tokens along a These manual formational parameters are thought to stimulus continuum that varies in equal physical steps be- function in signed languages in a fashion analogous to the tween minimally contrasting endpoints. Correspondingly, phonetic feature classes used in linguistic analysis of pho- they also display a correlated peak in discrimination for nological segments in spoken languages. In both language token pairs that straddle the boundary, with significantly modalities, the basic formational, or phonetic, features poorer discrimination of equidistant within-category token serve as the organizational pivot for minimal phonological pairs. Although there has been extensive debate about contrasts; for example, English /f/ and /v/ differ only in whether or not this categorical pattern provides unequivo- whether, during consonant production, the vocal cords are cal evidence of a human specialization for language (e.g., held open to prevent voicing or allowed to vibrate and thus Liberman, Cooper, Shankweiler, & Studdert-Kennedy, produce voicing. ASL handshapes V versus U differ only in 1967, vs. Diehl & Kluender, 1987; for broad coverage, see whether the extended index and middle fingers are spread Harnad, 1987), this metatheoretical issue was not our pri- apart or held together. Minimal phonological contrast per- mary concern. Rather, we employed categorical percep- mits words and signs to be meaningfully distinguished by a tion as a sensitive tool for assessing differences in percep- single critical feature. For example, English pat versus bat tion of phonetic variations between minimally contrasting differ only in the voicing feature of their initial stop con- sign targets, among viewers who vary in specific language sonants, whereas ASL signs CANDY and APP L E differ mini- experience (see also Hallé, Best, & Levitt, 1999). In other mally in handshape—that is, whether the index finger of words, we were not seeking to answer the fundamental the otherwise closed dominant hand is extended (1-index binary question of whether sign contrasts are categorically handshape) or flexed (X handshape; see Figure 1). perceived; rather, our focus was on relative differences The obvious differences between manual–visual and in the categoricity of the perception of sign contrasts vocal–auditory transmission modalities, however, raise (steepness and location of category boundaries, goodness fundamental questions about perception of the phonetic/ judgments of tokens throughout the continuum, shape of formational features in signs, as compared with speech. discrimination functions, within-category discrimination) To what extent does perception of signs and speech di- by several perceiver groups that differed systematically in verge as a result of constraints related to their different their language experience. Prior research on categorical primary perceptual modalities? Conversely, how might perception indicates that, indeed, degree of categoricity the apprehension of minimal contrast in the two language in speech perception does vary both across phonetic con- classes reflect the essentially amodal linguistic organiza- trasts (intrinsic properties) and across perceiver groups tion that provides hierarchical structure for both language with differing language experience (extrinsic factors). modalities? And, following from the latter question, how With respect to types of phonetic contrasts, highly cate- might language experience modulate perception of sign, gorical labeling and discrimination have been found for the as compared with speech, contrasts? perception of stop consonant voicing and place of articula- We approached these questions from the vantage point tion contrasts (e.g., Joanisse, Zevin, & McCandliss, 2007; of three striking and related characteristics often reported Liberman et al., 1967; Liberman, Harris, Hoffman, & Grif- and widely accepted for speech perception: (1) Minimal fith, 1957; McQueen, 1996; Simos et al., 1998). However, phonological contrasts tend to be perceived categorically, categoricity is somewhat weakened for fricatives (shallower but (2) this tendency varies widely across phonetic classes, boundaries and discrimination peaks), and weaker still and (3) several key parameters of categorical perception for approximants such as /r/–/l/ (e.g., Ferrero, Pelamatti, are modulated by specific language experience. Therefore, & Vagges, 1982; Rosen & Howell, 1987). Perception of the present research assessed categorical perception of a steady-state vowel contrasts is still less categorical, or even Figure 1. C ANDY versus APP L E minimal-handshape contrast in ASL. CATEGORICA L PERCEPTION OF ASL PSEUDOSIGNS 749 A 13Open-N Closed-N 5 A-Bar B-Bar Flat-O SX B Figure 2. (A) Handshapes: 1, 3, open-N, closed-N, 5, A-bar, B-bar, flat-O, S, X. (B) Locations: Upper cheek, back jaw, chin, and neck (produced with 1-index handshape). continuous. Vowel
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