Readings

• Who conducted the study on listening for mispronunciations?

  Ronald A. Cole

  
• What was the main task given to subjects (Ss) in the study?

  To indicate whenever they heard a mispronunciation
• How were mispronunciations produced in the study?

  By changing one consonant sound in a three-syllable word
• What was the effect of changing one distinctive feature on mispronunciation detection?

  Mispronunciations involving a single feature change were seldom detected
• How did the number of distinctive feature changes affect detection rates?

  Two and four feature changes were readily detected
• Did the syllable in which a mispronunciation occurred affect detection probability?

  No, it did not affect the probability of detecting a mispronunciation
• What was the reaction time difference for mispronounced words in the first syllable?

  Reaction times were at least a third of a second slower

  
• What is speech described as in the study?

  A series of phonemes
• How is the word "bit" composed in terms of phonemes?

  It is composed of three phonemes: /b/, /ɪ/, /t/
• What do phonemes within a word represent?

  They can be described in terms of their distinctive features
• What did previous experiments show about phonemes?

  Phonemes are perceived, compared, and remembered in terms of their distinctive features
• What did Scott, Cole, and Eimas report evidence for?

  Phoneme feature detectors
• What happens when a consonant phoneme is repeatedly presented?

  Individual features satiate, resulting in predictable changes in perception
• What did Warren's study reveal about syllable detection?

  Subjects can detect the presence of a target syllable faster than a target phoneme
• What does the faster identification of syllables suggest?

  Phonemes in a syllable may be identified in parallel
• What is required for a listener to understand speech?

  A listener must attend to certain acoustic features
• What did Warren and Obusek's experiments demonstrate?

  Listeners can "fill in" a missing phoneme based on linguistic context
• What phenomenon occurs under noisy conditions according to the study?

  A listener can generate a phoneme from its surrounding linguistic context
• What is the aim of the present study?

  To examine the role of individual acoustic features in the perception of ongoing speech
• How were words mispronounced in the study's procedure?

  By changing one phoneme in the word by one, two, or four distinctive features
• What should result in fewer detections according to the study's hypothesis?

  Changing a word by one distinctive feature
• How many undergraduate students participated in the study?

  Fifteen undergraduate students
• What was the language spoken by all subjects in the study?

  English
• What was the purpose of the 300-msec tone in the experiment?

  To start a 100-msec timer for measuring phoneme onset
• What was the method used to ensure mispronunciations were detected?

  Syllables difficult to detect were removed and re-recorded
• What was the result of the analysis of variance in the study?

  There was a significant effect of distinctive features on detection
• What was the accuracy of detecting words changed by two distinctive features?

  60% accuracy
• What was the accuracy of detecting words changed by four distinctive features?

  75% accuracy
• What does Figure 1 in the study display?

  The mean number of mispronounced words detected in each feature change condition

  
• What was the stimulus material used in the study?

  A passage from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass
• How many three-syllable words were selected for the study?

  Forty-five three-syllable words
• What was the method of mispronunciation for the words in the study?

  Changing a single consonant phoneme differing by one, two, or four distinctive features
• How often did mispronunciations occur in the syllables of the words?

  Equally often in the first, second, or third syllable
• What was the significance of the study's findings?

  It supports the notion that words are identified by their distinctive features
• In what year was the study published?

  1973
• What type of students participated in the study?

  Undergraduate students from an introductory psychology course
• What supported the research conducted in the study?

  A grant from the National Research Council of Canada
• How many subjects were in each group of the study?

  15 subjects
• What dialect did the speaker use for the recordings?

  Southern Ontario dialect
• How long did the session last for each subject?

  Approximately 30 minutes