Emerging integration of sequential and suprasegmental information in preverbal speech segmentation. Morgan, J. L. & Saffran, J. R Child Dev, 66(4):911-36, 1995.
abstract   bibtex   
5 studies examined contributions of syllable-ordering and rhythmic properties of syllable strings to 6- and 9-month-old infants' speech segmentation. A pair of methods measuring complementary properties of representational units was used: a noise detection task sensitive to perceived cohesiveness of pairs of syllables, and a discrimination maintenance task sensitive to compactness of representations of syllable pairs. For 9-month-olds, results show that a key pair of syllables was represented as a unit when the grouping of these syllables was supported by correlated regularities of ordering and rhythm in the set of stimulus strings, but not when such grouping was supported by only rhythmic or only syllable-ordering regularity. For 6-month-olds, results show that a key pair of syllables was represented as a unit whenever grouping was supported by rhythmic regularity in the stimulus strings, regardless of whether syllable-ordering regularity was also present. Thus, whereas 9-month-olds appear to be capable of integrating sequential and suprasegmental information in forming worldlike (multisyllabic) phonological percepts, 6-month-olds are not. The emergence of integrative abilities portends increased efficiency in speech processing and may contribute to the formation and use of an initial lexicon.
@Article{Morgan1995,
  author   = {James L. Morgan and Jenny R Saffran},
  journal  = {Child Dev},
  title    = {Emerging integration of sequential and suprasegmental information in preverbal speech segmentation.},
  year     = {1995},
  number   = {4},
  pages    = {911-36},
  volume   = {66},
  abstract = {5 studies examined contributions of syllable-ordering and rhythmic
	properties of syllable strings to 6- and 9-month-old infants' speech
	segmentation. A pair of methods measuring complementary properties
	of representational units was used: a noise detection task sensitive
	to perceived cohesiveness of pairs of syllables, and a discrimination
	maintenance task sensitive to compactness of representations of syllable
	pairs. For 9-month-olds, results show that a key pair of syllables
	was represented as a unit when the grouping of these syllables was
	supported by correlated regularities of ordering and rhythm in the
	set of stimulus strings, but not when such grouping was supported
	by only rhythmic or only syllable-ordering regularity. For 6-month-olds,
	results show that a key pair of syllables was represented as a unit
	whenever grouping was supported by rhythmic regularity in the stimulus
	strings, regardless of whether syllable-ordering regularity was also
	present. Thus, whereas 9-month-olds appear to be capable of integrating
	sequential and suprasegmental information in forming worldlike (multisyllabic)
	phonological percepts, 6-month-olds are not. The emergence of integrative
	abilities portends increased efficiency in speech processing and
	may contribute to the formation and use of an initial lexicon.},
  keywords = {Child Language, Comparative Study, Human, Infant, Language, Language Development, Periodicity, Speech, Speech Perception, Support, U.S. Gov, ', t, P.H.S., Vocabulary, 7671658},
}

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