Bergelson Lab coding additions

Template for generating files

Overheard Speech

create a new tier called cds@SPEAKER as a sub-tier of every xds tier, using tier type cds.

Copy all utterances marked as "C" on every xds@SPEAKER tier to the new cds@SPEAKER tier. The cds tier type has a closed vocabulary:

• T: speech directed to the Target child (CHI)

• K: Kin, or Kids other than the Target CHI

• M: directed to the both the Target child and other kid(s)

• X: Uncertain child directed speech

Files coded by George (just T vs. C):

HI file	match group
HI_423_959 (2h)	1
HI_424_527 (45m)	2
HI_425_644 (2h)	3
HI_426_537	4
HI_427_428	5
HI_428_532	6
HI_429_492	7
HI_430_659	8
HI_431_648	9

CAM	match group
TD_419_961 (30m)	1
TD_421_536	2
TD_437_564	3
TD_438_522	4
TD_426_429	5
TD_433_522	6
TD_430_493	7
TD_424_676	8
TD_468_758	9

HAM	match group
TD_420_268	1
TD_422_217	2
TD_428_188	3
TD_439_192	4
TD_423_184	5
TD_429_190	6
TD_425_194	7
TD_431_248	8
TD_435_205	9

InterQual

Coding protocols for VI/TD annotation for the Input and Interaction Quality study:

Tier 1: Utterance type - the tier that tells us what type of sentence, or partial sentence, the speaker just said.

utt@Speaker

Symbolic Association

Closed vocabulary

• I - Imperatives a command, usually omits the subject. "Go get the flower."

• Q - interrogatives (Questions) asking something, ends in a question mark. "Where's the flower?"

• N - iNdirect imperative a question, ends with a question mark. The response to this question is an action “Can you touch the flower?” “Do you want to play with the flower?” (note that the normal response here is not Yes or No, it's touching the flower or playing with the flower)

• D - Declarative a statement, ends in a period. "That's a flower."

Code also incomplete sentence - single words or two word responses. Rely on prosody to distinguish between incomplete utterance types, and between declaratives and interrogatives, if no other information is available.

Do your best to decide on an utterance type. Imperatives trump everything else. If you can't decide between a question and an imperative, it's probably an indirect imperative.

Tier 2: Utterance content - the tier that tells us what kind of content (or discourse structure) is in the utterance, what kind of conversational response the speaker made.

Code conversations both between children and adults, and between several adults (both xds@C and xds@A)

inq@Speaker

Symbolic Association

Closed vocabulary

• B - Reading written material (Book) coded when someone is reading text, or singing a song. That includes lyrics humming, or singing "lalala". Note: sometimes caretakers look at books with infants but do not read the text, and sometimes they interject non-text sentences while reading! These utterances should be coded as normal, and not as reading.

  • "Beep! Went the friendly little blue truck."

  • "Billy Jean is not my lover..."

• N - Negations: code when people say "no" or "you can't". Beware, often, negations are extensions if they contain any kind of content. Negations on their own without additional content are rare, but not unheard of.

• E - Expansions: Expansions are when an adult takes a child's incorrect utterance, and "fixes" it by adding linguistic information, but no other kind of information. Expansions are the rarest type of utterance in content.

  • CHI: "Want flower!"

  • A: "You want this flower."

• X - Extensions: Extensions add other kinds of information to the conversation code responses and continuations on the same topic as Extensions code parents' elaborations on a (written) story as Extensions. Extensions are very common.

  • CHI: "Flower."

  • A: "A blue flower. Flowers grow in the garden."

• R - Repetitions: repeat what was previous said basically word for word. Repetitions do NOT include people repeating themselves, only other people. For self-repetitions, code the first instance as whatever function it has, and then use Other.

  • CHI: "Flower"

  • A: "That's a flower!"

• A - Affirmations and confirmations: used to indicate positive responses OR that the other speaker has been heard, acknowledge what the speakers are saying. Affirmations do not involve all instances of backchanneling. Code affirmations in instances of explicit approval of what the infant (or other conversation partner) said or did.

  • "Yeah." "Uh-huh." "That's right." "Good job!"

• I - Initiations: Conversational starters and topic changes. When getting someone's attention, addressing a new person, or starting a new topic.

  • "Hi! Benny!"

  • "Benny, stop!"

• O - Other: code Other for unrelated utterances, self-repetitions, and undefined utterances such as [!=laughs], interjections and backchannels.

Content hierarchy and decision tree - how to determine between category codes.

If the parent is reading a book or singing a song, simply use the B code, without further fine-grained coding, even if the song or book is providing information.

It can be difficult to differentiate between an Extensions (continuation of a conversation) and an Initiation (a topic-switch or a new conversation). If there is a sufficiently long break, unless very explicitly referring to the previous conversation, it's a new conversation and an initiation. Addressing a new conversation partner is an Initiation.

Deciding between categories:

Since what we care about is informativeness, the primary decision to make is whether the utterance adds information to the conversation on the same topic, or not. If an utterance contains both an affirmation and an extension (e.g. "Yeah, that's a grey duckie"), decide whether new information is added. if so, it is an extension.

If the utterance does not contain new information, but is conversation-supporting, and it contains some kind of verbal affirmation (e.g. "Yeah," "that's right", "good job!") code it as an affirmation.

Double code breakdown:

• if EA is informative call is E otherwise call it A.

• If ER is informative call it E otherwise call it R

• If XA is informative call it X otherwise call it A

• If XR is informative call it E otherwise call it R

• if EX adds linguistic information, code it as E, otherwise, code it as X

• if RA orivudes a verbal affirmation, code it as A, otherwise code it as R

Some examples and weird edge cases:

• "Thank you" is an affirmation. "I see" is a confirmation. Code them as A

• "Hey" is an initiation.

• Calling a name is an initiation.

• Questions that request new information additions to the conversation should be coded as X

• Many (though not all) imperatives are initiations.

Tier 3 - Conversational context - the tier that tells us how many people are talking

Alignable tier

con@speaker

Symbolic Association

Closed vocabulary

• S - Self: Person talking to themselves, extending on their own first statement

• D - Dyad: Two people in dialogue, responding to each other

• G - Group: Several people all talking to each other at the same time.

• Plus a child tier with open commentary.

Miscellanous notes- InterQual

Always listen to the context to decide whether the first coded utterance in a segment is a new topic or a continuation of an ongoing conversation.

Repeated utterances of the same person that are not responses should be coded as Other.

Not all utterances may be codable. Do not code &= utterances like &=laughs, or other sounds, unless their communicative intent is clear (such as "uh-huh" as an acknowledgment. If an utterance is unintelligible and coded as xxx do your best to determine the utterance type but do not code the utterance content.