ERIC Number: EJ959179
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0889-9401
EISSN: N/A
Some Issues in Infant Speech Perception: Do the Means Justify the Ends?
Weitzman, Raymond S.
Analysis of Verbal Behavior, v23 p17-27 2007
A major focus of research on language acquisition in infancy involves experimental studies of the infant's ability to discriminate various kinds of speech or speech-like stimuli. This research has demonstrated that infants are sensitive to many fine-grained differences in the acoustic properties of speech utterance. Furthermore, these empirical findings have led investigators to theorize about how the infants internally process and represent speech stimuli. This paper examines one particular experimental protocol frequently used in these experiments: the Head-Turn Preference Procedure. It will be shown that this procedure is methodologically flawed and the theoretical conclusions drawn from its results are not adequately warranted. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Infants, Language Acquisition, Research Needs, Verbal Stimuli, Auditory Perception, Recognition (Psychology), Motion, Human Body, Preferences, Familiarity, Research Methodology, Test Validity
Association for Behavior Analysis International. 1219 South Park Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49001. Tel: 269-492-9310; Fax: 269-492-9316; e-mail: mail@abainternational.org; Web site: http://www.abainternational.org/TAVB.asp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A