Alvin Liberman
Encyclopedia
Alvin Meyer Liberman http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/aml.html (May 10, 1917 - Jan. 13, 2000) was an American psychologist
whose ideas set the agenda for fifty years of research in the psychology of speech perception
and laid the groundwork for modern computer speech synthesis
and the understanding of critical issues in cognitive science
. He took a biological perspective on language and his 'nativist' approach was often controversial as well as being influential. He was a professor of psychology
at the University of Connecticut
and of linguistics
at Yale University
. He was also President of Haskins Laboratories
from 1975 through 1986. His paper on the "Perception of the Speech Code" in 1967 remains one of the most cited papers in the psychological literature. He is also known for his pioneering work with Dr. Franklin S. Cooper on the development of the reading machine
for the blind in 1944. The goal of the project was to develop the sound output of a reading machine for the blind, a device that would scan print and produce a distinctive acoustic pattern for each letter of the alphabet. Despite years of effort , the project never succeeded in devising an acoustic array that could follow faster than morse code (Studdert, 2000). He is also known for the development of the motor theory of speech perception
with Ignatius Mattingly
in the 1960s and 1970s. Along with his wife, Isabelle Liberman
, he elucidated the "alphabetic principle
" and its relationship to phonemic awareness
and phonological awareness
in reading. He was a member of the National Academies of Science and of many other distinguished scientific societies.
His son Mark Liberman
is Trustee Professor of Phonetics and Professor of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. His son M. Charles Liberman
is Professor of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School
. His daughter, Sarah Ash, is an Associate Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University
.
in Columbia, Missouri
in 1938, his M.A. degree from the University of Missouri
in 1939 http://www.mindspring.com/~ssshp/ssshp_cd/ss_hask.htm and his Ph.D. in psychology
from Yale University
in 1942 http://www.mindspring.com/~ssshp/ssshp_cd/ss_hask.htm.
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
whose ideas set the agenda for fifty years of research in the psychology of speech perception
Speech perception
Speech perception is the process by which the sounds of language are heard, interpreted and understood. The study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonetics and phonology in linguistics and cognitive psychology and perception in psychology...
and laid the groundwork for modern computer speech synthesis
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
and the understanding of critical issues in cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
. He took a biological perspective on language and his 'nativist' approach was often controversial as well as being influential. He was a professor of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
at the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
and of linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. He was also President of Haskins Laboratories
Haskins Laboratories
Haskins Laboratories is an independent, international, multidisciplinary community of researchers conducting basic research on spoken and written language. Founded in 1935 and located in New Haven, Connecticut since 1970, Haskins Laboratories is a private, non-profit research institute with a...
from 1975 through 1986. His paper on the "Perception of the Speech Code" in 1967 remains one of the most cited papers in the psychological literature. He is also known for his pioneering work with Dr. Franklin S. Cooper on the development of the reading machine
Reading machine
A reading machine is a piece of Assistive Technology that allows blind people to access printed materials. It scans text, converts the image into text by means of optical character recognition and uses a speech synthesizer to read out what it has found....
for the blind in 1944. The goal of the project was to develop the sound output of a reading machine for the blind, a device that would scan print and produce a distinctive acoustic pattern for each letter of the alphabet. Despite years of effort , the project never succeeded in devising an acoustic array that could follow faster than morse code (Studdert, 2000). He is also known for the development of the motor theory of speech perception
Motor theory of speech perception
thumb|250px|right|When we hear [[speech|spoken words]] we sense that they are made of auditory [[sound]]s. The motor theory of speech perception argues that behind the sounds we hear are the intended movements of the [[vocal tract]] that [[pronunciation|pronounces]] them.The motor theory of speech...
with Ignatius Mattingly
Ignatius Mattingly
Ignatius G. Mattingly was a prominent American linguist and speech scientist. Prior to his academic career, he was an analyst for the National Security Agency from 1955-1966. He was a Lecturer and then Professor of Linguistics at the University of Connecticut from 1966-1996 and a researcher at...
in the 1960s and 1970s. Along with his wife, Isabelle Liberman
Isabelle Liberman
Isabelle Yoffe Liberman was an American psychologist, born in Latvia, who was an expert on reading disabilities, including dyslexia. Isabelle Liberman received her bachelor's degree from Vassar College and her doctorate from Yale University...
, he elucidated the "alphabetic principle
Alphabetic principle
According to the alphabetic principle, letters and combinations of letters are the symbols used to represent the speech sounds of a language based on systematic and predictable relationships between written letters, symbols, and spoken words...
" and its relationship to phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning...
and phonological awareness
Phonological awareness
Phonological awareness refers to an individual's awareness of the phonological structure, or sound structure, of spoken words. Phonological awareness is an important and reliable predictor of later reading ability and has, therefore, been the focus of much research.- Overview :Phonological...
in reading. He was a member of the National Academies of Science and of many other distinguished scientific societies.
His son Mark Liberman
Mark Liberman
Mark Liberman is an American linguist. He has a dual appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, as Trustee Professor of Phonetics in the Department of Linguistics, and as a professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences. He is the founder and director of the Linguistic Data...
is Trustee Professor of Phonetics and Professor of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. His son M. Charles Liberman
M. Charles Liberman
Dr. Michael Charles Liberman, PhD was born to Alvin Liberman and Isabelle Liberman in Storrs, Connecticut. He is now Director of the Eaton-Peabody Laboratory at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, MA and at Harvard Medical School...
is Professor of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
. His daughter, Sarah Ash, is an Associate Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
.
Education
Alvin M. Liberman received his A.B. degree from the University of MissouriUniversity of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
in 1938, his M.A. degree from the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in 1939 http://www.mindspring.com/~ssshp/ssshp_cd/ss_hask.htm and his Ph.D. in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1942 http://www.mindspring.com/~ssshp/ssshp_cd/ss_hask.htm.
Research
Liberman was one of the first to conduct research and experimental studies in the field of speech development and linguistics. Through his research he aimed to gain a thorough understanding of the importance and purpose of speech in the act of reading and the process of learning to read. Some of his profound investigations were made during his time at Haskins Laboratories where he worked as a research scientist trying to investigate the relationships between speech and acoustics. It was evident to Liberman that speech, the speed at which someone says something in particular, is connected to the word's amount of syllables, or in other terms its "acoustic complexity" (Whalen, 2000). Liberman and his colleagues were training the blind to read using a reading machine that would replace each letter of the alphabet with a specific sound. However, he and his colleagues found that the replacement of the sounds for each distinct letter of the alphabet did not help with the blind to learn to read or pronounce the letters fluently. After long investigations of why this was, Liberman established that speech was not as simple as an acoustic alphabet. Therefore, speech signals are very distinct from acoustic alphabet (Fowler, 2001). These investigations showed that speech perception is different from perception of other acoustic signals, and convinced Liberman that speech perception is the result of the human biological adaptations to language. Human listeners are able to decode the repetitive variable signal of running speech and to translate it into phonemic components. This is also known as the "motor theory".Honors
- National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
- 1988 F. O. Schmitt Medal and Prize in Neuroscience
- Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological AssociationAmerican Psychological AssociationThe American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
, 1980 - American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
- Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
- Docteur Honoris Causa, Universite Libre de BruxellesUniversité Libre de BruxellesThe Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has 21,000 students, 29% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.-Name:...
- Honorary Doctor of Science Degree, SUNY Binghamton, New York
- University of ConnecticutUniversity of ConnecticutThe admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Research - University of ConnecticutUniversity of ConnecticutThe admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
Alumni Association Distinguished Professor - Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral SciencesCenter for Advanced Study in the Behavioral SciencesThe Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences is an American interdisciplinary research body in Stanford, California focusing on the social sciences and humanities . Fellows are elected in a closed process, to spend a period of residence at the Center, released from other duties...
, 1964–65 - Fellow, Acoustical Society of AmericaAcoustical Society of AmericaThe Acoustical Society of America is an international scientific society dedicated to increasing and diffusing the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications.-History:...
- Fellow, American Psychological AssociationAmerican Psychological AssociationThe American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
- Guggenheim Fellow, 1964–65
- Medal, Collège de FranceCollège de FranceThe Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
External links
- Haskins Laboratories tribute http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/aml.html
- D. H. Whalen, Alvin Liberman's legacy http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JASMAN000108000005002560000002&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes
- Obituary by Michael Studdert-Kennedy http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/amlmsk.html
- Obituary by Bjorn Lindblom http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/amlbl.html
- National Academies Press: Phonological awareness and early reading skills http://newton.nap.edu/books/0309082919/html/38.html
- Smithsonian Speech Synthesis History Project http://www.mindspring.com/~ssshp/ssshp_cd/im_2485.htm
- Reprints of many Liberman's papers at Haskins Labs website http://www.haskins.yale.edu/publications/pub-l.html