Recent studies of speech perception have shown that speakers retain significant amounts of the phonetic detail of heard speech providing strong evidence for an exemplar-based model of the representation of speech sounds. This does not preclude the existence of a feature-based model as well; indeed many theories of speech perception advocate a feature- or contrast-based model for the discrimination of speech sounds. In this study, we provide evidence that an exemplar-based model of speech perception makes more accurate predictions for the performance of English, French and Turkish speakers in a vowel discrimination task. Participants were asked to discriminate the four high front vowels of German, which differ by both the rounding and tense/lax contrasts. Crucially, English has only the tense/lax contrast, while Turkish and French have only rounding. The results show that having one of the vowels in one’s language facilitates discrimination more than having the featural contrast supporting an exemplar-based model. Furthermore, different discrimination tasks were used showing that the effects of native language on vowel discrimination are mediated by task and by psychoacoustic similarity.

This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.