Iris Berent
Biographic Data
| ID | 794473 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Iris Berent |
| GIVEN NAMES | Iris |
| FAMILY NAME | Berent |
| SIGNATURE | BERENT I |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northeastern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6424-7702 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Three arguments for abstraction in phonology
Much recent research in cognitive and brain sciences links speech processing to the auditory and articulatory systems. These facts notwithstanding, here, I argue that phonology is abstract, algebraic, and substance-free. I first review challenges to this hypothesis and explain why it remains a viable possibility. I next suggest that an algebraic, substance-free phonology confers adaptive benefits; and finally, I support this proposal by evidence …
Consciousness intuitions are illusory
Are You a Closet Dualist? Evidence From Brief Implicit Association Task
Do people tacitly contrast minds and bodies? To find out, here, we gauge Dualism using a brief implicit association task. Participants were asked to determine whether a target word belonged to a category-attribute pair. Categories were either body or mind; attributes captured either physical properties of bodies (e.g., object/solid) or their converse (e.g., stuff/airy). Results from five experiments showed that physical properties selectively fac…
Davinci the Dualist
A large literature suggests that people are intuitive Dualists—they consider the mind ethereal, distinct from the body. Furthermore, Dualism emerges, in part, via learning (e.g., Barlev & Shtulman, 2021). Human learners, however, are also endowed with innate systems of core knowledge, and recent results suggest that core knowledge begets Dualism (Berent, 2023a; Berent et al., 2022). The resulting question, then, is whether the acquisition of Dual…
The “Hard Problem of Consciousness” Arises from Human Psychology
Consciousness presents a “hard problem” to scholars. At stake is how the physical body gives rise to subjective experience. Why consciousness is “hard”, however, is uncertain. One possibility is that the challenge arises from ontology—because consciousness is a special property/substance that is irreducible to the physical. Here, I show how the “hard problem” emerges from two intuitive biases that lie deep within human psychology: Essentialism an…
Speakers aren't blank slates (with respect to sign-language phonology)
Linguistic Illusions Guide Eye Movement
Across languages, certain phonological patterns are preferred to others (e.g., blog > lbog ). But whether such preferences arise from abstract linguistic constraints or sensorimotor pressures is controversial. We address this debate by examining the constraints on doubling (e.g., slaflaf , generally, XX). Doubling demonstrably elicits conflicting responses (aversion or preference), depending on the linguistic level of analysis (phonology vs. morp…
Is Phonology Embodied? Evidence from Mechanical Stimulation
On the matter of essence
Is Intuitive Psychology Bad for Psychology? Reply to Krueger
Book Review| April 01 2021 Is Intuitive Psychology Bad for Psychology? Reply to Krueger Iris Berent Iris Berent Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, 125 NI, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, E-mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google The American Journal of Psychology (2021) 134 (1): 125–127. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.134.1.0125 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter …
The true “me”—Mind or body
Speech Perception Triggers Articulatory Action
Neuroimaging studies show that the brain articulatory motor system is activated during speech perception. These results, however, cannot determine whether the motor system is engaged in motor simulation (e.g., lip movement) or in non-motor computations. To gauge the causal role of the articulatory motor system, here we examine the effect of mechanical stimulation. Participants heard speech tokens, ambiguous with respect to voicing—either labial (…
Amodal phonology
Does knowledge of language transfer spontaneously across language modalities? For example, do English speakers, who have had no command of a sign language, spontaneously project grammatical constraints from English to linguistic signs? Here, we address this question by examining the constraints on doubling. We first demonstrate that doubling (e.g. panana ; generally: ABB) is amenable to two conflicting parses (identity vs. reduplication), dependi…
No integration without structured representations
Pater’s (2019) expansive review is a significant contribution toward bridging the disconnect of generative linguistics with connectionism, and as such, it is an important service to the field. But Pater’s efforts for inclusion and reconciliation obscure crucial substantive disagreements on foundational matters. Most connectionist models are antithetical to the algebraic hypothesis that has guided generative linguistics from its inception. They es…
No integration without structured representations
Pater's (2019) expansive review is a significant contribution toward bridging the disconnect of generative linguistics with connectionism, and as such, it is an important service to the field. But Pater's efforts for inclusion and reconciliation obscure crucial substantive disagreements on foundational matters. Most connectionist models are antithetical to the algebraic hypothesis that has guided generative linguistics from its inception. They es…
The Basis of the Syllable Hierarchy
Evans’s (2014) modularity myths
Evans’s (2014) modularity myths: A mental architecture digest Iris Berent Evans’s book has certainly gotten the attention of linguists, and it has done so for two good reasons. First, E reminds us that linguistics is first and foremost a cognitive science, so one’s account of language must be firmly grounded in a theory of mental architecture. Second, E insists that linguistic theory ought to be subject to careful empirical scrutiny from a multid…
Universal Restrictions on Syllable Structure
Sensitivity to Phonological Universals
The Phonological Mind
Humans instinctively form words by weaving patterns of meaningless speech elements. Moreover, we do so in specific, regular ways. We contrast dogs and gods, favour blogs to lbogs. We begin forming sound-patterns at birth and, like songbirds, we do so spontaneously, even in the absence of an adult model. We even impose these phonological patterns on invented cultural technologies such as reading and writing. But why are humans compelled to generat…
Language Universals and Misidentification
Certain ill-formed phonological structures are systematically under-represented across languages and misidentified by human listeners. It is currently unclear whether this results from grammatical phonological knowledge that actively recodes ill-formed structures, or from difficulty with their phonetic encoding. To examine this question, we gauge the effect of two types of tasks on the identification of onset clusters that are unattested in an in…
On the Role of Variables in Phonology
A computational model by Hayes and Wilson (2008) seemingly captures a diverse range of phonotactic phenomena without variables, contrasting with the presumptions of many formal theories. Here, we examine the plausibility of this approach by comparing generalizations of identity restrictions by this architecture and human learners. Whereas humans generalize identity restrictions broadly, to both native and nonnative phonemes, the original model an…
Phonological Constraints on the Assembly of Skeletal Structure in Reading
Listeners' knowledge of phonological universals
Optimality Theory explains typological markedness implications by proposing that all speakers possess universal constraints penalising marked structures, irrespective of the evidence provided by their language (Prince & Smolensky 2004). The account of phonological perception sketched here entails that markedness constraints reveal their presence by inducing perceptual ‘repairs’ to structures ungrammatical in the hearer's language. As onset cluste…
What we know about what we have never heard
On the Role of Variables in Phonology
A computational model by Hayes and Wilson (2008) seemingly captures a diverse range of phonotactic phenomena without variables, contrasting with the presumptions of many formal theories. Here, we examine the plausibility of this approach by comparing generalizations of identity restrictions by this architecture and human learners. Whereas humans generalize identity restrictions broadly, to both native and nonnative phonemes, the original model an…
The Nature of Regularity and Irregularity
Co-occurrence restrictions on identical consonants in the Hebrew lexicon
It is well known that Semitic languages restrict the co-occurrence of identical and homorganic consonants in the root. The IDENTITY HYPOTHESIS attributes this pattern to distinct constraints on identical and nonidentical homorganic consonants (e.g. McCarthy 1986, 1994). Conversely, the SIMILARITY HYPOTHESIS captures these restrictions in terms of a single monotonic ban on perceived similarity (Pierrehumbert 1993; Frisch, Broe & Pierrehumbert 1997…
Language Universals and Misidentification
Certain ill-formed phonological structures are systematically under-represented across languages and misidentified by human listeners. It is currently unclear whether this results from grammatical phonological knowledge that actively recodes ill-formed structures, or from difficulty with their phonetic encoding. To examine this question, we gauge the effect of two types of tasks on the identification of onset clusters that are unattested in an in…
Universal Restrictions on Syllable Structure
Sensitivity to Phonological Universals
Amodal phonology
Does knowledge of language transfer spontaneously across language modalities? For example, do English speakers, who have had no command of a sign language, spontaneously project grammatical constraints from English to linguistic signs? Here, we address this question by examining the constraints on doubling. We first demonstrate that doubling (e.g. panana ; generally: ABB) is amenable to two conflicting parses (identity vs. reduplication), dependi…
The Basis of the Syllable Hierarchy
The Nature of Regularity and Irregularity
Co-occurrence restrictions on identical consonants in the Hebrew lexicon
It is well known that Semitic languages restrict the co-occurrence of identical and homorganic consonants in the root. The IDENTITY HYPOTHESIS attributes this pattern to distinct constraints on identical and nonidentical homorganic consonants (e.g. McCarthy 1986, 1994). Conversely, the SIMILARITY HYPOTHESIS captures these restrictions in terms of a single monotonic ban on perceived similarity (Pierrehumbert 1993; Frisch, Broe & Pierrehumbert 1997…
What we know about what we have never heard
Listeners' knowledge of phonological universals
Optimality Theory explains typological markedness implications by proposing that all speakers possess universal constraints penalising marked structures, irrespective of the evidence provided by their language (Prince & Smolensky 2004). The account of phonological perception sketched here entails that markedness constraints reveal their presence by inducing perceptual ‘repairs’ to structures ungrammatical in the hearer's language. As onset cluste…
Phonological Constraints on the Assembly of Skeletal Structure in Reading
Language Universals and Misidentification
Certain ill-formed phonological structures are systematically under-represented across languages and misidentified by human listeners. It is currently unclear whether this results from grammatical phonological knowledge that actively recodes ill-formed structures, or from difficulty with their phonetic encoding. To examine this question, we gauge the effect of two types of tasks on the identification of onset clusters that are unattested in an in…
On the Role of Variables in Phonology
A computational model by Hayes and Wilson (2008) seemingly captures a diverse range of phonotactic phenomena without variables, contrasting with the presumptions of many formal theories. Here, we examine the plausibility of this approach by comparing generalizations of identity restrictions by this architecture and human learners. Whereas humans generalize identity restrictions broadly, to both native and nonnative phonemes, the original model an…
The Phonological Mind
Humans instinctively form words by weaving patterns of meaningless speech elements. Moreover, we do so in specific, regular ways. We contrast dogs and gods, favour blogs to lbogs. We begin forming sound-patterns at birth and, like songbirds, we do so spontaneously, even in the absence of an adult model. We even impose these phonological patterns on invented cultural technologies such as reading and writing. But why are humans compelled to generat…
Sensitivity to Phonological Universals
Evans’s (2014) modularity myths
Evans’s (2014) modularity myths: A mental architecture digest Iris Berent Evans’s book has certainly gotten the attention of linguists, and it has done so for two good reasons. First, E reminds us that linguistics is first and foremost a cognitive science, so one’s account of language must be firmly grounded in a theory of mental architecture. Second, E insists that linguistic theory ought to be subject to careful empirical scrutiny from a multid…
Universal Restrictions on Syllable Structure
The Basis of the Syllable Hierarchy
No integration without structured representations
Pater’s (2019) expansive review is a significant contribution toward bridging the disconnect of generative linguistics with connectionism, and as such, it is an important service to the field. But Pater’s efforts for inclusion and reconciliation obscure crucial substantive disagreements on foundational matters. Most connectionist models are antithetical to the algebraic hypothesis that has guided generative linguistics from its inception. They es…
No integration without structured representations
Pater's (2019) expansive review is a significant contribution toward bridging the disconnect of generative linguistics with connectionism, and as such, it is an important service to the field. But Pater's efforts for inclusion and reconciliation obscure crucial substantive disagreements on foundational matters. Most connectionist models are antithetical to the algebraic hypothesis that has guided generative linguistics from its inception. They es…
Speech Perception Triggers Articulatory Action
Neuroimaging studies show that the brain articulatory motor system is activated during speech perception. These results, however, cannot determine whether the motor system is engaged in motor simulation (e.g., lip movement) or in non-motor computations. To gauge the causal role of the articulatory motor system, here we examine the effect of mechanical stimulation. Participants heard speech tokens, ambiguous with respect to voicing—either labial (…
Amodal phonology
Does knowledge of language transfer spontaneously across language modalities? For example, do English speakers, who have had no command of a sign language, spontaneously project grammatical constraints from English to linguistic signs? Here, we address this question by examining the constraints on doubling. We first demonstrate that doubling (e.g. panana ; generally: ABB) is amenable to two conflicting parses (identity vs. reduplication), dependi…
On the matter of essence
Is Intuitive Psychology Bad for Psychology? Reply to Krueger
Book Review| April 01 2021 Is Intuitive Psychology Bad for Psychology? Reply to Krueger Iris Berent Iris Berent Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, 125 NI, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, E-mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google The American Journal of Psychology (2021) 134 (1): 125–127. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.134.1.0125 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter …
The true “me”—Mind or body
Is Phonology Embodied? Evidence from Mechanical Stimulation
The “Hard Problem of Consciousness” Arises from Human Psychology
Consciousness presents a “hard problem” to scholars. At stake is how the physical body gives rise to subjective experience. Why consciousness is “hard”, however, is uncertain. One possibility is that the challenge arises from ontology—because consciousness is a special property/substance that is irreducible to the physical. Here, I show how the “hard problem” emerges from two intuitive biases that lie deep within human psychology: Essentialism an…
Speakers aren't blank slates (with respect to sign-language phonology)
Linguistic Illusions Guide Eye Movement
Across languages, certain phonological patterns are preferred to others (e.g., blog > lbog ). But whether such preferences arise from abstract linguistic constraints or sensorimotor pressures is controversial. We address this debate by examining the constraints on doubling (e.g., slaflaf , generally, XX). Doubling demonstrably elicits conflicting responses (aversion or preference), depending on the linguistic level of analysis (phonology vs. morp…
Davinci the Dualist
A large literature suggests that people are intuitive Dualists—they consider the mind ethereal, distinct from the body. Furthermore, Dualism emerges, in part, via learning (e.g., Barlev & Shtulman, 2021). Human learners, however, are also endowed with innate systems of core knowledge, and recent results suggest that core knowledge begets Dualism (Berent, 2023a; Berent et al., 2022). The resulting question, then, is whether the acquisition of Dual…
Are You a Closet Dualist? Evidence From Brief Implicit Association Task
Do people tacitly contrast minds and bodies? To find out, here, we gauge Dualism using a brief implicit association task. Participants were asked to determine whether a target word belonged to a category-attribute pair. Categories were either body or mind; attributes captured either physical properties of bodies (e.g., object/solid) or their converse (e.g., stuff/airy). Results from five experiments showed that physical properties selectively fac…
Psychology (24 works) · Linguistics (20 works) · Philosophy (17 works) · Computer Science (16 works) · Cognition (12 works) · Phonetics and Phonology Research (10 works) · Phonology (10 works) · Artificial Intelligence (9 works) · Cognitive psychology (9 works) · Artificial Intelligence (8 works)