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SPOKEN WORD ACCESS PROCESSES (SWAP)May 29-31, 2000 |
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SPOKEN WORD ACCESS PROCESSES (SWAP)May 29-31, 2000 |
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Previous research has demonstrated that increases in probabilistic phonotactics
facilitate spoken word processing (e.g., Pitt & Samuel, 1995; Vitevitch
& Luce, 1999), whereas increased competition among lexical representations
is typically associated with slower and less accurate recognition (e.g.,
Luce & Pisoni, 1998). We examined the combined effects of probabilistic
phonotactics and lexical competition by generating words and nonwords that
varied orthogonally on phonotactics and similarity neighborhood density.
As predicted, the results revealed simultaneous facilitative effects of
phonotactics and inhibitory effects of lexical competition. However, one
anomalous result emerged: Certain stimuli with high probability phonotactics
and low neighborhood density were processed far more slowly than predicted
by a simple model in which effects of phonotactics and density are additive.
Using a speeded task in which we asked participants to produce the nearest
sound-based neighbor of a spoken target item, we tested the hypothesis
that items with high sublexical frequencies but few lexical neighbors have
strong lexical attractors that may control processing times under certain
specific circumstances. Our results are not consistent with models of spoken
word recognition in which degree of lexical competition is a simple function
of the weighted sum of the activations of lexical competitors, nor are
our results consistent with a model in which a single, highest-frequency
neighbor is responsible for all competition effects. Instead, lexical competition
seems to be a complex function of the weighted activations of the lexical
and sublexical representations associated with the target and its competitors.
Bibliographic reference. Luce, Paul A. / Large, Nathan R. (2000): "Do spoken words have attractors?", In SWAP-2000, 111-114.