Practitioners often face the situation of comparing any set k distributions, which may follow neither normality nor equality variances. We propose a semiparametric model to compare those distributions using an exponential tilt method. This extends classical analysis variance models when all are unknown by relaxing its assumptions. The proposed is optimal one known. Large-sample estimates parame...

The fate of optimality modeling is typically linked to that of adaptationism: the two are thought to stand or fall together (Gould and Lewontin, 1979; Orzack and Sober, 1994). I argue here that this is mistaken. The debate over adaptationism has tended to focus on one particular use of optimality models, which I refer to here as their strong use. The strong use of an optimality model involves t...

In this chapter, we explore the implications of Optimality Theory (OT) for speech-language pathology.. But at the time of writing, the most accessible readings in OT for the speech-language pathologist are to be found in Bernhardt, Gilbert, and Ingram (1996). The first part of the chapter outlines major aspects of OT, and the second part discusses application of this theory to phonological inte...