Kettle hinders cat, shadow does not hinder shed: activation of 'almost embedded' words in nonnative listening

A Cross-Modal Priming experiment investigated Dutch listeners’ perception of English words. Target words were embedded in a carrier word (e.g., cat in catalogue) or ‘almost embedded’ in a carrier word except for a mismatch in the perceptually difficult /æ/-/ε/ contrast (e.g., cat in kettle). Previous results showed a bias towards perception of /ε/ over /æ/. The present study shows that presentation of carrier words either containing an /æ/ or an /ε/ led to long lasting inhibition of embedded or ‘almost embedded’ words with an /æ/, but not of words with an /ε/. Thus, both catalogue and kettle hindered recognition of cat, whereas neither schedule nor shadow hindered recognition of shed.