Creation and Norming of the Sentence Stimuli
Careful consideration was given to the stimuli used in the context of this dissertation. In particular, we debated the respective benefits of using well-established stimuli (e.g., Revised Speech Perception in Noise; Bilger et al., 1984) compared to creating our own set of sentences.
In the end, however, given the requirements of our experimental design, we opted for the second option. While not without limitations, this approach had the notable advantage of allowing for a more subtle manipulation of sentence context, one that is less drastic than the often seen low- context vs. high-context.
Creating the Sentence Stimuli
Regardless of language or level of context, each sentence consisted of a stem and a terminal word. Across all sentences, the stems were between four to nine words (M = 6.13; SD = 1.27). Sentences providing moderate levels of semantic context were created first, by combining stems with probable terminal words. Crucially, three moderate context (MC) sentences were created for each stem, using three relatively equiprobable words. From there, a set of three low context (LC) sentences using the same three terminal words was created by switching the carrier stem to one which, while grammatically correct, provided no useful semantic context (e.g., “He had not thought about the _”. In total, 300 LC and 300 MC sentence triplets were created this way in both English and French, for a total of 1,200 triplets or 3,600 sentences.
All sentence terminal words began with a consonant and consisted of one or two
syllables. While the original goal was to use only monosyllabic words, a compromise had to be made for French terminal words because monosyllabic French words tend to have a lower word frequency compared to English monosyllabic words (as described in the main body of the paper).
Validating the Sentence Stimuli
Both English and French stimuli were normed prior to recording. For each language, native speakers were presented with a subset of the candidate sentences and asked to rate the predictability of each terminal word given the carrier sentence stem, using a scale from 1 to 10 (the full instructions can be found at the end of the present document). In addition to the sentences of interest for this study, a set of high context sentences (i.e., sentences that drive the reader/listener towards a single plausible terminal word) were added to the validation list.
Importantly, each rater was only presented with one of the sentences from a given triplet (i.e., one of the three possible terminal words).
Based on the ratings provided in the validation study, 1,800 sentences were selected from the original 3,600, yielding 150 MC triplets and 150 LC triplets in both English and French. For each moderate context triplet, all three sentences had to be rated as providing moderate levels of context in order to be selected for videorecording. The final sentences were subsequently
recorded by a bilingual woman as described in the manuscript.
INSTRUCTIONS
On the following pages, there are a number of short sentences. Your task is to determine the predictability of the final word of the sentence given the context. The scale ranges from 1 to 10.
A low score, ranging from 1 to 3, indicates that the preceding sentence context does not allow you to predict the final word. There are many other words could replace the final word that is given.
A medium score, ranging from 4 to 7, indicates that the preceding sentence context somewhat predicts the final word. There are still a few equally plausible words that could replace the final word that is given.
A high score, ranging from 8 to 10, indicates that the preceding sentence context strongly predicts the final word. There are no other words to end this sentence as well as the one that is given.
An example of a sentence where a score of 1 to 3 would apply is:
John and Tim gave me a lock.
The word lock is not predicted by the sentence that precedes it. Although it makes sense in the sentence, lock can be replaced by almost any noun, so we would give it a low rating.
An example of a sentence where a score of 4 to 7 would apply is:
At the bar, I ordered a beer.
The preceding sentence context helps us to predict what the final word could be. It makes sense that at a bar one would order a beer. However, at a bar there are a few other things that one could order: a shot, a drink, etc. So, the preceding sentence context helps us to predict one of several possible final words.
An example of a sentence where a score of 8 to 10 would apply is:
She blew out the candles on the birthday cake.
The preceding sentence context makes the final word “cake” highly predictable. This final word is the best and most likely ending to the sentence and could not be easily replaced by another word. Thus, we give it a high rating.
INSTRUCTIONS
Sur les pages suivantes, vous trouverez plusieurs courtes phrases. Votre tâche consiste à déterminer à quel point le dernier mot de chaque phrase est prévisible dans le contexte de la phrase. Pour ce faire, vous utiliserez une échelle allant de 1 à 10.
Un score de 1 à 3 indique que le contexte donné par la phrase n’est pas suffisant pour prédire le dernier mot. Autrement dit, il existe plusieurs autres mots qui pourraient remplacer le dernier mot.
Un score de 4 à 7 indique que le contexte donné par la phrase permet de prédire le dernier mot avec un certain niveau de confiance. Cependant, il existe tout de même quelques mots aussi plausibles que celui qui est utilisé comme dernier mot dans la phrase.
Un score de 8 à 10 indique que le contexte donné par la phrase permet de prédire le dernier mot avec un niveau de confiance élevé. Il n’existe pas vraiment d’autres mots qui terminent la phrase aussi bien que celui qui est utilisé dans ce document.
Voici un exemple de phrase qui mériterait un score de 1 à 3 : John et Tim m’ont donné un fruit.
Le contexte donné par cette phrase n’est pas suffisant pour prédire le mot fruit. Bien que la phrase soit intelligible, le mot fruit pourrait être remplacé par presque n’importe quel nom.
Voici un exemple de phrase qui mériterait un score de 4 à 7 : Au bar, j’ai commandé un verre de bière.
Le contexte donné par cette phrase aide à prédire le dernier mot. Il est courant de commander un verre de bière dans un bar. Cependant, il existe quelques alternatives aussi plausibles : un verre de vin, de whisky, etc.
Voici un exemple de phrase qui mériterait un score de 8 à 10 : Elle a soufflé les chandelles sur son gâteau.
Le contexte donné par cette phrase permet de prédire le mot gâteau avec un niveau de confiance très élevé. Autrement dit, le mot gâteau est le mot le plus probable lorsqu’on considère le reste de la phrase.
