Abstract:

While every model of visual-word recognition for alphabetic scripts assumes that letters play an important role in mediating between the sensory input and lexical representations, no such clear consensus exists for spoken-word recognition. In this talk, I will provide an overview of recent developments in this unit-of-perception debate. Partly based on results from a perceptual learning paradigm there is at least a consensus that some form of intermediate unit is involved. However,  the form of this unit is still under debate, with phonological features, articulatory features,  allophones, and phonemes as most prominent contenders. I will argue that the same perceptual learning paradigm that led to the consensus that some form of intermediate unit is used can also be used to delineate the form of these units based on patterns of generalization or non-generalization of learning. A number of experiments using a variety of languages (Dutch, Korean, and German)  suggest that a grain size similar to an allophone might be a good candidate. This line of research was then questioned by Bowers, Kazanina, and Andermanse (Journal of Memory and Language, 2016) based on findings from a selective adaptation paradigm. However, when properly controlled,  selective-adaptation paradigms also support an allophonic type of unit that serves as an intermediary between acoustic input and lexical representations.