While there is ample evidence that prosody and syntax mutually constrain each other, there is considerable uncertainty about the nature of this interface. Here we explore this issue with prepositional phrase attachment ambiguities (You can feel A the cat B with the feather). Prior research has been motivated by two hypotheses: 1) The absolute boundary hypothesis (ABH) posits that attachment preferences depend on the size of the prosodic boundary before the ambiguous phrase (boundary B).2) The relative boundary hypothesis (RBH) links attachment to the relative size of boundary B and any boundary between the high and low attachment site (boundary A). However, few experiments test the unique predictions of either theory. Study 1 examines how syntax influences prosodic production. The results provide modest support for RBH and stronger support for ABH. In Study 2 we systematically vary the size of both boundaries in an offline comprehension task. We find that absolute boundary strength influences interpretation when relative boundary strength is held constant, and relative boundary strength influences interpretation when absolute boundary strength is held constant. Thus our theory of the prosody-syntax interface must account for effects of both kinds.

Until recently, research in speech perception and speech production has largely focused on the search for psychological and phonetic evidence of discrete, abstract, context-free symbolic units corresponding to phonological segments or phonemes. Despite this common conceptual goal and intimately related objects of study, however, research in these two domains of speech communication has progressed more or less independently for more than 60 years. In this article, we present an overview of the foundational works and current trends in the two fields, specifically discussing the progress made in both lines of inquiry as well as the basic fundamental issues that neither has been able to resolve satisfactorily so far. We then discuss theoretical models and recent experimental evidence that point to the deep, pervasive connections between speech perception and production. We conclude that although research focusing on each domain individually has been vital in increasing our basic understanding of spoken language processing, the human capacity for speech communication is so complex that gaining a full understanding will not be possible until speech perception and production are conceptually reunited in a joint approach to problems shared by both modes.

Hypothesis The rapid phonological processing skills of children with cochlear implants early in life (ages 8–10), as measured by nonword repetition performance, will predict their language development eight years later (ages 16–18). This core processing ability will also correlate with concurrent measures of language at both ages of testing. Background Understanding the causes of the wide range of performance in pediatric cochlear implant users currently constitutes a major barrier to clinical and research progress in the field. Research into children’s neurocognitive abilities such as working memory capacity and verbal rehearsal speed, in addition to conventional demographic variables, has shown that these foundational skills play a key role in determining outcomes. Here we investigate the impact of rapid phonological processing, an ability which is critical in spoken language use, for children with cochlear implants. Methods 52 deaf children with cochlear implants completed a battery of 14 clinical and research measures of language, neurocognitive, and nonword repetition skills in two testing sessions 8 years apart. Results Performance on the nonword repetition task at both testing sessions correlated significantly with concurrent language abilities. Importantly, nonword repetition accuracy at age 8–10 also significantly predicted performance on measures of language ability at age 16–18 in a wide range of domains, from speech intelligibility to sentence recognition in noise. These relations were significant even when other neurocognitive measures were controlled. Conclusion Early nonword repetition performance in children with cochlear implants predicts later language development, and therefore may identify those children at high risk for poor outcomes.

Passive modeling of movements is often used in movement therapy to overcome disabilities caused by stroke or other disorders (e.g. Developmental Coordination Disorder or Cerebral Palsy). Either a therapist or, recently, a specially designed robot moves or guides the limb passively through the movement to be trained. In contrast, action theory has long suggested that effective skill acquisition requires movements to be actively generated. Is this true? In view of the former, we explicitly tested the latter. Previously, a method was developed that allows children with Developmental Coordination Disorder to produce effective movements actively, so as to improve manual performance to match that of typically developing children. In the current study, we tested practice using such active movements as compared to practice using passive movement. The passive movement employed, namely haptic tracking, provided a strong test of the comparison, one that showed that the mere inaction of the muscles is not the problem. Instead, lack of prospective control was. The result was no effective learning with passive movement while active practice with prospective control yielded significant improvements in performance.