Working paper
The Perception of Consonants by Adults and Infants: Categorical or Categorized?: Preliminary Results
Working Papers in the Language Sciences at the University of Rochester, Vol.1(2), pp.215-256
University of Rochester
10/01/2000
Abstract
An overwhelming majority of speech perception research has focused entirely on the end product of the perceptual process. Perhaps no other phenomenon in cognitive science is as overstudied with these "endpoint" techniques as the categorical perception of consonants. Recent advances in eye tracking methodologies have allowed us to now look at the intermediate stages of processing in several domains. In this paper, we present two studies examining the time course of categorical perception in adults. We demonstrate that, although categorization seems to be present throughout the time-course of categorical perception, it is not immediately discrete. Accompanying simulations suggest that categorical perception may only be a single temporal facet of a more complex, continuously evolving process. Categorical perception has been pervasive in explaining diverse areas of cognition such as speech perception, color perception, music perception, & nonhuman speech perception. Most importantly, it has been invoked in explaining infants' speech perception abilities. Given the results presented here, it seems appropriate to expand any study of categorical perception beyond simply the temporal endpoints to the entire time course of infant perception. However, the inadequacy of current infant methodologies to provide identification data for speech stimuli provides the greatest obstacle to achieving this goal with infants. Thus, we present the anticipatory eye movement paradigm, which will allow us to assess identification & categorization in infants. Preliminary data obtained with this methodology suggests that this methodology can provide categorization data & may also provide a glimpse into the temporal dynamics of infant speech perception. 15 Figures, 3 Appendixes, 45 References. Adapted from the source document
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Perception of Consonants by Adults and Infants: Categorical or Categorized?: Preliminary Results
- Creators
- Bob McMurrayMichael SpiveyRichard Aslin
- Resource Type
- Working paper
- Publication Details
- Working Papers in the Language Sciences at the University of Rochester, Vol.1(2), pp.215-256
- Publisher
- University of Rochester; Rochester, New York
- Language
- English
- Date posted
- 10/01/2000
- Academic Unit
- Linguistics; Otolaryngology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Communication Sciences and Disorders; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984071655402771
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