title: Pitch planning in English and Taiwanese Mandarin: evidence from startle-elicited responses.
abstract: Startling auditory stimulus (SAS) can trigger rapid release of pre-planned movement sequences and can effect a physiological perturbation of pitch level. An SAS-based paradigm was used to investigate planning of pitch profiles in English and Taiwanese Mandarin. Results show that startle-elicited pitch level is elevated, whereas pitch contours are preserved. These results support the view that pitch contours are pre-specified in speech plans, while absolute pitch level is not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics, University of British Columbia, 2613 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada chenhao@alumni.ubc.ca, gick@mail.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Chenhao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics, University of British Columbia, 2613 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada chenhao@alumni.ubc.ca, gick@mail.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gick
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D010898:Pitch Perception; D011930:Reaction Time; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality