Dialect Interference in Lexical Processing: Effects of Familiarity and Social Stereotypes

BACKGROUND/AIMS The current study explored the roles of dialect familiarityand social stereotypes in dialect interference effects in a speeded lexical classification task. METHODS Listeners classified the words bad and bed or had and head produced by local Midland and non-local Northern talkers and the words sod and side or rod and ride produced by non-local, non-stereotyped Northern and nonlocal, stereotyped Southern talkers in single- and mixed-talker blocks. RESULTS Lexical classification was better for the local dialect than for the non-local dialects, and for the stereotyped non-local dialect than for the non-stereotyped non-local dialect. Dialect interference effects were observed for all three dialects, although the patterns of interference differed. For the local dialect, dialect interference was observed for response times, whereas for the non-local dialects, dialect interference was observed primarily for accuracy. CONCLUSION These findings reveal complex interactions between indexical and lexical information in speech processing.