Inequality across Consonantal Contrasts in Speech Perception: Evidence from Mismatch Negativity

Autor/inn/en	Cornell, Sonia A.; Lahiri, Aditi; Eulitz, Carsten
Titel	Inequality across Consonantal Contrasts in Speech Perception: Evidence from Mismatch Negativity
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 39 (2013) 3, S.757-772 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0096-1523
DOI	10.1037/a0030862
Schlagwörter	Neurosciences; Models; Speech Communication; Articulation (Speech); Differences; Language Processing; Auditory Perception; Prediction; Prior Learning; Dictionaries; Phonology; Pattern Recognition; Probability; Phonemes; Evidence; German; English; Foreign Countries + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Neuroscience; Neurowissenschaften; Neurowissenschaft; Analogiemodell; Unterscheiden; Sprachverarbeitung; Auditive Wahrnehmung; Akustische Wahrnehmung; Akustik; Vorhersage; Vorkenntnisse; Dictionary; Wörterbuch; Fonologie; Mustererkennung; Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung; Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie; Fonem; Evidenz; Deutscher; English language; Englisch; Ausland
Abstract	The precise structure of speech sound representations is still a matter of debate. In the present neurobiological study, we compared predictions about differential sensitivity to speech contrasts between models that assume full specification of all phonological information in the mental lexicon with those assuming sparse representations (only contrastive or otherwise not predictable information is stored). In a passive oddball paradigm, we studied the contrast sensitivity as reflected in the mismatch negativity (MMN) response to changes in the manner of articulation, as well as place of articulation of consonants in intervocalic positions of nonwords (manner of articulation: [edi - eni], [ezi - eni]; place of articulation: [edi - egi]). Models that assume full specification of all phonological information in the mental lexicon posit equal MMNs within each contrast (symmetric MMNs), that is, changes from standard [edi] to deviant [eni] elicit a similar MMN response as changes from standard [eni] to deviant [edi]. In contrast, models that assume sparse representations predict that only the [ezi] - [eni] reversals will evoke symmetric MMNs because of their conflicting fully specified manner features. Asymmetric MMNs are predicted, however, for the reversals of [edi] - [eni] and [edi] - [egi] because either a manner or place property in each pair is not fully specified in the mental lexicon. Our results show a pattern of symmetric and asymmetric MMNs that is in line with predictions of the featurally underspecified lexicon model that assumes sparse phonological representations. We conclude that the brain refers to underspecified phonological representations during speech perception. (Contains 4 tables, 8 figures, and 2 footnotes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10