Lecture 10 - Speech Production and Speech Errors

Question 1

Describe the key stages of language production?

Answer 1

1) Thought/message: The conceptualisation phase where ideas to be communicated are formed
2) Word selection and syntax: Choosing appropriate words (lexical items) and arranging them in syntactically correct order
3) Phonological planning: The sound structure of words is built
4) Articulation: The physical process of producing speech sounds through muscle movements

Question 2

What are the main types of speech errors?

Answer 2

1) Lexical errors: Incorrect word selection
2) Phonological errors: Errors in the sound structure of words
3) Semantic intrusion: Errors caused by semantic associations, leading to incorrect word choice due to meaning overlap

Question 3

What are lexical errors? Give an example

Answer 3

• Lexical errors involve incorrect word choice, often substituting words that are semantically related
• Example: saying “pass the salt” when intending to say “pass the pepper.”

Question 4

What are phonological errors in speech production? Give an example

Answer 4

• Phonological errors occur when the incorrect phonemes (sounds) are used in speech
• Example: :alk about red trape” instead of “talk about red tape”

Question 5

What is semantic intrusion in speech production? Give an example

Answer 5

• Semantic intrusion happens when words related in meaning to the intended word mistakenly appear
• Example: Saying “we’re raising more money for the rich” instead of “we’re raising more money for the poor” (frequent in political slips)

Question 6

How many words do speakers plan in advance when speaking? What is this planning part of?

Answer 6

• Speakers often plan 3 or 4 words in advance during speech production
• This planning is part of how speech errors like exchanges or anticipations occur

Question 7

What is the syntactic frame model?

Answer 7

• The syntactic frame model explains how lexical items (words) are selected based on their syntactic categories (e.g., noun, verb) and how errors can arise when the wrong word is chosen for the frame
• Example: “Let the house out of the cat” instead of “Let the cat out of the house” (syntactic category error)

Question 8

Name the types of lexical errors in speech production

Answer 8

Anticipatory, preseveratory, semantic errors, change, substitution, exchange, insertion, deletion

Question 9

What is an anticipatory lexical error in speech?

Answer 9

It is when a word or sound from later in the sentence is accidentally used too early

Question 10

What is a perseveratory lexical error in speech?

Answer 10

It is when a word or sound from earlier in the sentence is repeated by mistake

Question 11

What is a semantic lexical error?

Answer 11

It is when a word is replaced with another that has a related meaning (e.g., saying “salt” instead of “pepper”)

Question 12

What is a change lexical error in speech?

Answer 12

It is a general change is the intended word, often making the sentence incorrect or odd

Question 13

What is a substitution error in speech?

Answer 13

It i when the correct word is replaced by another, often unrelated, word

Question 14

What is an exchange lexical error in speech?

Answer 14

It is when two words swap places in a sentence

Question 15

What is an insertion lexical error?

Answer 15

It is when an extra word is added to the sentence unintentionally

Question 16

What is a deletion lexical error?

Answer 16

It is when a word that should be in the sentence is left out

Question 17

Name the different types of phoneme errors?

Answer 17

Anticipatory, perseveratory, noncontextual, substitution, exchange, insertion, deletion, shift

Question 18

What is an anticipatory phoneme error?

Answer 18

• It is when a sound from later in the word or sentence is spoken too early
• Example: saying rext instead of rest

Question 19

What is a perseveratory phoneme error?

Answer 19

• It is when a sound from earlier in the word or sentence is accidentally repeated
• Example: saying baba instead of baby

Question 20

What is a noncontextual phoneme error?

Answer 20

• It is when a sound that isn’t related to any other in the sentence is mistakenly added
• Example: saying flog instead of fog

Question 21

What is a phoneme substitution error?

Answer 21

• Replacing the correct sound with another one
• Example: saying bog instead of dog

Question 22

What is a phoneme exchange error?

Answer 22

• It is when two sounds switch places
• Example: gog dood instead of good dog

Question 23

What is a phoneme insertion error?

Answer 23

• It is when a sound is added where it shouldn’t be
• Example: saying balue instead of blue

Question 24

What is a phoneme deletion error?

Answer 24

It is when a sound is accidentally left out

Question 25

What is a phoneme shift error?

Answer 25

- It is when a sound moves to a different part of the word - Example: heft lemisphere instead of left hemisphere

Question 26

What is the consonant-vowel rule in phonological errors?

Answer 26

- In speech errors, consonants tend to swap with consonants, and vowels swap with vowels - Example: bruy instead of buy

Question 27

What do speech errors tell us about language production?

Answer 27

- They provide insight into language planning, suggesting that we plan ahead when producing speech - They reveal that we choose words and phonemes in advance, and we follow syntactic and phonological rules when selecting them

Question 28

What is a Freudian slip, and how is it studied?

Answer 28

- A Freudian slip is a speech error that reveals unconscious thoughts or desires - Studied using the SLIP (Spoonerism Laboratory Induced Phenomenon) technique, which involves participants making speech errors under controlled conditions

Question 29

How do experimental studies investigate Freudian slips?

Answer 29

- Motley & Baars (1979) investigated whether speech errors (like Spoonerisms) are influenced by situational context (e.g., sexual or anxiety-inducing settings) - Results showed more sexual-themed slips in high-sex anxiety conditions, supporting Freud's theory

Question 30

What is the lexical bias effect?

Answer 30

- The lexical bias effect occurs when speech errors are more likely to form real words rather than non-words - Example: wrong loot instead of long root (resulting in a real word)

Question 31

What is the concept of semantic intrusion and what does it suggest in political speech?

Answer 31

- Semantic intrusion happens when the speaker unintentionally reveals underlying associations or attitudes through speech errors - Example: Politicians may accidentally reveal subconscious beliefs through statements like "raising money for the rich" instead of "raising money for the poor"