Signal degradation delays semantic integration so context cannot prune competition in time.

Evidence

The curves for NS and DS in the neutral condition show a constant increase in pupil size over time as a function of lexical competition. The curves for the context condition show a decline in pupil size growth starting at around 800 ms after the onset of the target word. The statistical analysis revealed significant three way interactions with Context (N versus C) and Presentation (NS versus DS) on all terms describing the curves: Intercept (χ 2 (3) = 301.90, p < 0.001), slope (χ 2 (3) = 145.3, p < 0.001), and the cubic term, the curvature around the peak (χ 2 (3) = 272.52, p < 0.001). This implies that pupil dilation was sensitive in capturing the reduced effect of lexical competition in the context sentences versus neutral context, but this effect was delayed and smaller in DS than in NS. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3993 (#expands, via linked claim)

Our results show that processing natural speech comes with a timely integration of semantic information, which in turn reduces lexical competition. Listeners are then able to pre-select a displayed target based on its semantic coherence with the context, and this allows listeners to reduce the effort involved in lexical competition. When processing degraded speech the integration of semantic information is delayed, as is also lexical competition. This implies that semantic integration is not able to reduce lexical competition, which by itself is longer and occurs later. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3953 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Semantic context redirects gaze to a word’s meaning only in natural, not degraded, speech.; Signal degradation delays semantic integration and raises listening effort — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3951; Degraded speech delays semantic integration and blocks contextual relief of effort — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3953 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Sentential context reduces lexical competition effort, but degraded speech delays that reduction #expands (0.93) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3993
• Degraded speech delays semantic integration and blocks contextual relief of effort #expands (0.92) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3953
• Semantic knowledge helps listeners interpret degraded speech signals #complicates (0.75)
• Semantic context can compensate for degraded acoustic speech signals #complicates (0.72) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3949