Despite the popularity of network models in cognitive science, their performance can often be difficult to evaluate. Inspired by the geometric approach to statistical model selection, we introduce a conceptually simple method to examine the global behavior of a network model, by counting the number and type of response patterns it can simulate. We describe an MCMC algorithm constructed to Þnd t...

Norris et al. recently reported experimental evidence that listeners learn phoneme categories in response to lexical feedback. To reconcile these findings with their modular account of speech perception, the authors argue that top-down feedback can be used to support phoneme learning, but not to influence on-line phonemic processing. We suggest that these findings have broader implications than...

The anthropocentric focus of contemporary linguistic research highlights the specificity individual worldview which includes a personal sense toponymy. studies discussing ways that toponymic concepts are apprehended, memorized, and retrieved from memory usually based on experimental data. But looking at irregular changes toponyms may receive in speech is no less informative. Children’s proves m...

We present a two step study where the first part aims to determine the phonemic prior bias (conditioned on “ah”, “m-hm”, “m-m”, “n-hn”, “oh”, “okay”, “u-hu”, “yeah” and “yes”) in subjects perception of six feedback functions (acknowledgment, continuer, disagreement, surprise, enthusiasm and uncertainty). The results showed a clear phonemic prior bias for some tokens, e.g “ah” and “oh” is common...

■ ABSTRACT: This study aimed at investigating children’s perceptual auditory performance in identifying phonemic contrast in Brazilian Portuguese (henceforth BP). The hypothesis is that the perceptual auditory acquisition develops in a gradual fashion, following a systematic acquisition order. We performed four identification tasks using the instrument PerceFAL with 66 children (of both genders...

Previous studies have shown that the adult speakers experience difficulty in discriminating nonnative phonetic contrasts that are not phonemic in their native language. The present study examined the internal structure of phonetic category representations in adults to seek an explanation for the impact of language experience on phonetic perception. Experiment 1 shows that language experience af...

This paper presents evidence for a new model of the functional anatomy of speech/language (Hickok & Poeppel, 2000) which has, at its core, three central claims: (1) Neural systems supporting the perception of sublexical aspects of speech are essentially bilaterally organized in posterior superior temporal lobe regions; (2) neural systems supporting the production of phonemic aspects of speech c...

Recent experimental research in developmental phonology confinns that within their first year, infants demonstrate language-sp~ific patterns of speech perception discrimination. Data, however, outpaces theory in this line of research. For wtaile it is clear that this transition is related to the particular linguistic environment of the infant, it remains obscure whether mere acoustic exposure t...