Lexical stress and lexical access : effects in read and spontaneous speech
This thesis examines three issues which are of importance in the study of auditory word recognition: the phonological unit which is used to access representations in the mental lexicon; the extent to which hearers can rely on words being identified before their acoustic offsets; and the role of context in auditory word recognition. Three hypotheses which are based on the predictions of the Cohort Model (Marslen-Wilson and Tyler 1980) are tested experimentally using the gating paradigm. First, the phonological access hypothesis claims that word onsets, rather than any other part of the word, are used to access representations in the mental lexicon. An alternative candidate which has been proposed as the initiator of lexical access is the stressed syllable. Second, the early recognition hypothesis states that polysyllabic words, and the majority of words heard in context, will be recognised before their acoustic offsets. Finally, the context-free hypothesis predicts that during the initial stages of the processing of words, no effects of context will be discernible. Experiment 1 tests all three predictions by manipulating aspects of carefully articulated, read speech. First, examination of the gating responses
McAllister, Janice Margaret
Auditory word recognition
Lexical stress and lexical access : effects in read and spontaneous speech. This thesis examines three issues which are of importance in the study of auditory word recognition: the phonological unit which is used to access representations in the mental lexicon; the extent to which hearers can rely on words being identified before their acoustic offsets; and the role of context in auditory word recognition. Three hypotheses which are based on the predictions of the Cohort Model (Marslen-Wilson and Tyler 1980) are tested experimentally using the gating paradigm. First, the phonological access hypothesis claims that word onsets, rather than any other part of the word, are used to access representations in the mental lexicon. An alternative candidate which has been proposed as the initiator of lexical access is the stressed syllable. Second, the early recognition hypothesis states that polysyllabic words, and the majority of words heard in context, will be recognised before their acoustic offsets. Finally, the context-free hypothesis predicts that during the initial stages of the processing of words, no effects of context will be discernible. Experiment 1 tests all three predictions by manipulating aspects of carefully articulated, read speech. First, examination of the gating responses
lexical stress lexical_access effect read spontaneous_speech examines issue importance study auditory word_recognition phonological unit used access representation mental_lexicon extent hearer rely word identify acoustic offset role context auditory word_recognition three_hypothesis base prediction cohort model wilson test experimentally use gate paradigm first phonological access hypothesis claim word onset rather part word_use access representation mental_lexicon alternative candidate propose lexical_access stress syllable second early recognition hypothesis state word majority word hear context recognise acoustic offset finally context_free hypothesis predict initial_stage process word effect context discernible test prediction manipulate aspect carefully articulate read speech first examination response