ABSTRACT
This class of theory can be termed indicational (cf. Reed, 1981); that is, the role of the plan is to indicate, instruct, or command the articulators how and when they should be active. The emphasis of indicational theories is placed firmly on the symbolic mode of description with little or no attention paid to the detailed dynamical processes that the symbol mode is said to indicate or direct. To use a favorite example (cf. Pattee, 1977), a stop sign indicates to a driver that the car should be stopped, but provides no detailed information about how to stop the car; i.e., how, where, and by how much to decelerate, apply the brakes, etc. Thus, the symbolic or indicational mode greatly underdetermines the information actually required to perform an activity. In the case of speech, indicational theories pay no regard to the dynamical behavior of the articulatory system; i.e., the ordered motions of the articulators in space and time. The timing program or rhythm generator concept emphasizes the symbolic, indicational mode and provides no account of how the multiple degrees of freedom of the articulatory system are actually coordinated in the course of an activity.
