Lexical viability constraints on speech segmentation by infants. Johnson, E. K, Jusczyk, P. W., Cutler, A., & Norris, D. Cognit Psychol, 46(1):65-97, 2003.
abstract   bibtex   
The Possible Word Constraint limits the number of lexical candidates considered in speech recognition by stipulating that input should be parsed into a string of lexically viable chunks. For instance, an isolated single consonant is not a feasible word candidate. Any segmentation containing such a chunk is disfavored. Five experiments using the head-turn preference procedure investigated whether, like adults, 12-month-olds observe this constraint in word recognition. In Experiments 1 and 2, infants were familiarized with target words (e.g., rush), then tested on lists of nonsense items containing these words in "possible" (e.g., "niprush" [nip+rush]) or "impossible" positions (e.g., "prush" [p+rush]). The infants listened significantly longer to targets in "possible" versus "impossible" contexts when targets occurred at the end of nonsense items (rush in "prush"), but not when they occurred at the beginning (tan in "tance"). In Experiments 3 and 4, 12-month-olds were similarly familiarized with target words, but test items were real words in sentential contexts (win in "wind" versus "window"). The infants listened significantly longer to words in the "possible" condition regardless of target location. Experiment 5 with targets at the beginning of isolated real words (e.g., win in "wind") replicated Experiment 2 in showing no evidence of viability effects in beginning position. Taken together, the findings suggest that, in situations in which 12-month-olds are required to rely on their word segmentation abilities, they give evidence of observing lexical viability constraints in the way that they parse fluent speech.
@Article{Johnson2003,
  author   = {Elizabeth K Johnson and Peter W. Jusczyk and Anne Cutler and Dennis Norris},
  journal  = {Cognit Psychol},
  title    = {Lexical viability constraints on speech segmentation by infants.},
  year     = {2003},
  number   = {1},
  pages    = {65-97},
  volume   = {46},
  abstract = {The Possible Word Constraint limits the number of lexical candidates
	considered in speech recognition by stipulating that input should
	be parsed into a string of lexically viable chunks. For instance,
	an isolated single consonant is not a feasible word candidate. Any
	segmentation containing such a chunk is disfavored. Five experiments
	using the head-turn preference procedure investigated whether, like
	adults, 12-month-olds observe this constraint in word recognition.
	In Experiments 1 and 2, infants were familiarized with target words
	(e.g., rush), then tested on lists of nonsense items containing these
	words in "possible" (e.g., "niprush" [nip+rush]) or "impossible"
	positions (e.g., "prush" [p+rush]). The infants listened significantly
	longer to targets in "possible" versus "impossible" contexts when
	targets occurred at the end of nonsense items (rush in "prush"),
	but not when they occurred at the beginning (tan in "tance"). In
	Experiments 3 and 4, 12-month-olds were similarly familiarized with
	target words, but test items were real words in sentential contexts
	(win in "wind" versus "window"). The infants listened significantly
	longer to words in the "possible" condition regardless of target
	location. Experiment 5 with targets at the beginning of isolated
	real words (e.g., win in "wind") replicated Experiment 2 in showing
	no evidence of viability effects in beginning position. Taken together,
	the findings suggest that, in situations in which 12-month-olds are
	required to rely on their word segmentation abilities, they give
	evidence of observing lexical viability constraints in the way that
	they parse fluent speech.},
  groups   = {Statistical Learning},
  keywords = {Attention, Cognition, Cues, Female, Human, Infant, Language Development, Male, Phonetics, Speech, Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Newborn, Speech Discrimination Tests, Speech Perception, Child Psychology, Paired-Associate Learning, Psycholinguistics, Acoustic Stimulation, Age Factors, Comparative Study, Contrast Sensitivity, Language, Non-U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Vocabulary, Random Allocation, 12646156},
}

Downloads: 0