title: Development of phonological constancy: 19-month-olds, but not 15-month-olds, identify words in a non-native regional accent.
abstract: By 12 months, children grasp that a phonetic change to a word can change its identity (phonological distinctiveness). However, they must also grasp that some phonetic changes do not (phonological constancy). To test development of phonological constancy, sixteen 15-month-olds and sixteen 19-month-olds completed an eye-tracking task that tracked their gaze to named versus unnamed images for familiar words spoken in their native (Australian) and an unfamiliar non-native (Jamaican) regional accent of English. Both groups looked longer at named than unnamed images for Australian pronunciations, but only 19-month-olds did so for Jamaican pronunciations, indicating that phonological constancy emerges by 19 months. Vocabulary size predicted 15-month-olds' identifications for the Jamaican pronunciations, suggesting vocabulary growth is a viable predictor for phonological constancy development.
authors.affiliation: MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney and Haskins Laboratories.
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Mulak
authors.forename: Catherine T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Best
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Tyler
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Julia R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Irwin
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010700:Phonetics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary