Question

Research some of the general characteristics of language and the concept of speech acquisition in infants.
Jim and Sue just had a baby, and they are interested in learning more about the process of language acquisition. They have heard about the controversy surrounding the view that speech is special. Do you think speech is special or is it processed like other auditory stimuli? Explain your answer with reasons.

Answer 1

Is Speech is special?

The above stated statement is very debatable issue. Some researchers believe that speech is a special form of perception unlike any other while others hold that speech is perceived in exactly the same way as other auditory stimuli. The latter view can be called a general mechanism account of speech perception while the former view can be called a special mechanism account of speech perception.

Some researchers opined that speech is special because o the following reasons-

• Speech is processed categorically while other auditory stimuli are not.
• In duplex perception, speech stimuli can be processed as speech and non speech at the same time.
• The brain is having special speech areas and language hemisphere

While some other Researchers argued that Speech is not special because of following reasons-

• Chinchillas show categorical perception, but they don't speak!
• When other auditory stimuli are split up and presented to each ear separately speech stimuli can also be processed as speech and non speech at the same time.
• Other animals have areas in their brains that respond to species-specific communication sounds.

Looking at the arguments cited above, I can say it is very difficult to categorise speech as special or non special. However, I personally believes, Speech is special as that it utilises a special mode of hearing and that it engages unique neural mechanisms.