Fricative discrimination in early infancy.
In three separate experiments using controlled natural stimuli and a high-amplitude sucking paradigm, infants' ability to detect differences between /s/ and /v/, /s/ and /f/, and /s/ and /z/, respectively, was investigated. Evidence for discrimination was obtained for /s/ versus /v/ and /s/ versus /f/ but not for /s/ versus /z/. Implications for a theory of infant speech perception are discussed.
D000367:Age Factors; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002663:Child Language; D003463:Cues; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010700:Phonetics; D013060:Speech; D013391:Sucking Behavior