WK5 L10: Weekly Readings

• Who conducted the study on listening for mispronunciations?

  Ronald A. Cole

  
• What was the main task given to subjects 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

  
• What was the reaction time difference when mispronunciations occurred in the first syllable?

  Reaction times were at least a third of a second slower

  
• How are words identified according to the study's results?

  Words are identified by their distinctive features
• What is a phoneme?

  A phoneme is a basic unit of sound in speech
• What do distinctive features describe in phonemes?

  Distributions of acoustic energy accompanying a phoneme
• How many phonemes are in the word "bit"?

  Three phonemes
• 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, causing 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
• How did subjects localize the cough in Warren's experiment?

  They localized the cough several phonemes away from its actual site
• 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?

  By changing one phoneme in the word by one, two, or four distinctive features

  
• What should result from changing a word by one distinctive feature?

  Fewer detections of mispronunciation

  
• What was the composition of the subjects in the study?

  Undergraduate students from an introductory psychology course
• How many subjects were in each group?

  15 subjects
• What was the method used to locate the onset of a phoneme?

  Manually drawing the tape over the playback head
• What was the purpose of the 300-msec tone in the experiment?

  To start a timer for measuring reaction time
• What was the outcome of the analysis of variance in the results?

  There was a significant effect of distinctive features and an interaction with syllable position
• What were the distinctive feature conditions in the study?

  • One distinctive feature change
  • Two distinctive feature changes
  • Four distinctive feature changes
• What were the results of mispronunciation detection based on distinctive features?

  • Fewer than 30% detected with one feature change
  • 60% detected with two feature changes
  • 75% detected with four feature changes

  
• What was the procedure for presenting the stimulus material?

  • Recorded by a male speaker
  • Identical tapes with varying mispronunciations
  • Subjects instructed to press a button for mispronunciations
• What were the characteristics of the mispronounced words used in the study?

  • Selected from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass"
  • Each word was three syllables
  • Mispronounced by changing a consonant phoneme
• What is the title of the article discussed in the study material?

  Tracking the Time Course of Spoken Word Recognition Using Eye Movements: Evidence for Continuous Mapping Models
• What was the significance of the syllable position in mispronunciations?

  • Mispronunciations occurred equally in first, second, or third syllables
  • First syllable changes involved the first phoneme
  • Second and third syllable changes involved the final phoneme
• Who are the authors of the article?

  Paul D. Allopenna, James S. Magnuson, and Michael K. Tanenhaus
• What was the role of the distinctive feature system in the study?

  • Valid measure of perceptual similarity of phonemes
  • Used to determine mispronunciation detection
  • Guided the phonemic changes in the experiment

  
• What was monitored as participants followed spoken instructions?

  Eye movements to pictures of four objects on a screen
• What were the results of the study regarding phoneme detection?

  • Subjects detected fewer mispronunciations with one feature change
  • More mispronunciations detected with two and four feature changes
  • Reaction times varied based on syllable position

  
• What were the implications of the study's findings?

  • Supports the notion that words are identified by distinctive features
  • Suggests phonemes can be perceived in parallel
  • Indicates listeners can fill in missing phonemes based on context
• What type of spoken instruction was given in Experiment 1?

  Instructions to move one of the objects, e.g., "Pick up the beaker; now put it below the diamond"
• What were the limitations of the study?

  • Only undergraduate students participated
  • Limited to English speakers
  • Focused on specific phoneme changes
• What types of distractor objects were included in the experiments?

  A cohort competitor, a rhyme competitor, and an unrelated competitor
• What future research directions could stem from this study?

  • Investigating other languages and dialects
  • Exploring the effects of background noise on phoneme detection
  • Examining the role of context in speech perception