UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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    Volitional code switching: Is there a cost?
    (2018) Wereley, Sophie; Faroqi-Shah, Yasmeen; Hearing and Speech Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Bilinguals commonly commingle their languages when speaking among other bilinguals in a process known as code switching (CS). Previous studies have been equivocal on whether CS is cognitively demanding, as measured by a time cost. This study sought to identify and compare time cost in CS across two experimental paradigms: naturalistic conversation and self-paced reading. Eighteen participants of similar linguistic background (English-dominant second language learners of French) were recruited and completed both tasks. Results identified a time cost for CS in the conversation task, but not the self-paced reading task. The data were also analyzed for effect of CS direction (either L1 to L2 or vice versa). In the conversation task only, there was a greater time cost for switching from L1 into L2. These results suggest that, while time cost for CS exists, it is limited to tasks that require selection of lexical and syntactic schemas.
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    The Neural Mechanisms Supporting Structure and Inter-Brain Connectivity In Natural Conversation
    (2014) AbdulSabur, Nuria; Idsardi, William; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Conversation is the height of human communication and social interaction, yet little is known about the neural mechanisms supporting it. To date, there have been no ecologically valid neuroimaging studies of conversation, and for good reason. Until recently, imaging techniques were hindered by artifact related to speech production. Now that we can circumvent this problem, I attempt to uncover the neural correlates of multiple aspects of conversation, including coordinating speaker change, the effect of conversation type (e.g. cooperative or argumentative) on inter-brain coupling, and the relationship between this coupling and social coherence. Pairs of individuals underwent simultaneous fMRI brain scans while they engaged in a series of unscripted conversations, for a total of 40 pairs (80 individuals). The first two studies in this dissertation lay a foundation by outlining brain regions supporting comprehension and production in both narrative and conversation - two aspects of discourse level communication. The subsequent studies focus on two unique features of conversation: alternating turns-at-talk and establishing inter-brain coherence through speech. The results show that at the moment of speaker change, both people are engaging attentional and mentalizing systems - which likely support orienting toward implicit cues signaling speaker change as well as anticipating the other person's intention to either begin or end his turn. Four networks were identified that are significantly predicted by a novel measure of social coherence; they include the posterior parietal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and right angular gyrus. Taken together, the findings reveal that natural conversation relies on multiple cognitive networks besides language to coordinate or enhance social interaction.