The use of sequential probabilities in the segmentation of speech.
The present investigation addresses the possible utility of sequential probabilities in the segmentation of spoken language. In a series of five word- spotting and two control lexical decision experiments, high- versus low-probability consonant-vowel (Experiments 1, 2, 5, and 7) and vowel-consonant (Experiments 1, 3, 4, and 6) strings were presented either in the nonsense contexts of target words (Experiments 1-3) or within the target words themselves (Experiments 4-7). The results suggest that listeners, at least for sequences in the onset position, indeed use sequential probabilities as cues for segmentation. The probability of a sound sequence influenced segmentation more when the sequence occurred within the target words (Experiments 4-7 vs. Experiments 1-3). Furthermore, the effects were reliable only when the sequences occurred in the onset position (Experiments 1, 2, 5, and 7 vs. Experiments 1, 3, 4, and 6).
van der Lugt
A H
AH
Exeter University, Washington Singer Laboratories, England. a.h.van-der-lugt@ex.ac.uk
D006801:Humans; D010700:Phonetics; D011337:Probability Learning; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012660:Semantics; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception