ERIC Number: EJ1080385
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Nov
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
New Phonotactic Constraints Learned Implicitly by Producing Syllable Strings Generalize to the Production of New Syllables
Warker, Jill A.; Dell, Gary S.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v41 n6 p1902-1910 Nov 2015
Novel phonotactic constraints can be acquired by hearing or speaking syllables that follow a novel constraint. When learned from hearing syllables, these newly learned constraints generalize to syllables that were not experienced during training. However, generalization of phonotactic learning to novel syllables has never been persuasively demonstrated in production. The typical production experiment examines phonotactic learning through speech errors. After participants repeat syllable sequences embedded with a novel phonotactic constraint, such as /f/ appearing only in onset position, their speech errors come to adhere to the novel constraint. For example, when participants mistakenly move an /f/ to another syllable, it overwhelmingly moves to an onset rather than a coda position. We assessed whether constraints learned and measured in this manner generalize to unexperienced syllables and, at the same time, whether the slips tend to create previously experienced syllables (a syllable "priming" effect). We found evidence of generalization but not of syllable priming in participants' speech errors. The effect of phonotactic learning was as powerfully expressed during the production of unexperienced as experienced syllables. A connectionist model simulated the experimental results using a single learning mechanism and successfully reproduced the constraint learning, generalization, and lack of priming.
Descriptors: Experimental Psychology, Syllables, Generalization, Speech Communication, Error Patterns, Models, Simulation, Priming, Phonology, College Students, Comparative Analysis, Vowels, Phonemes, Audio Equipment
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Illinois
Grant or Contract Numbers: HD44458; DC00191; HD051030