Transitioning learning strategies in speech categorization enhances lexical learning

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2016-04, Vol.139 (4), p.2163-2163
• Main Authors: Yi, Han-Gyol, Tessmer, Rachel, Chandrasekaran, Bharath
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4950414

A recent model suggests two strategies are involved in speech category learning: a reflective strategy that maps sounds onto categorical representations explicitly, and a reflexive strategy that does so implicitly. Successful learners transition from an initial reflective strategy to a reflexive strategy. We examined the extent to which speech category learning in adults can be improved by selectively enhancing these strategies in an optimal sequence, and how this influences performance in a lexical learning task. Monolingual English speakers (N = 40) learned to categorize Mandarin tones. Participants in the “optimal” condition (n = 10) were first presented with a combination of feedback information and talker presentation designed to enhance reflective strategies, and later presented with a feedback-talker combination that targeted reflexive strategies. This order was reversed in the “sub-optimal” condition (n = 10). Two control conditions (n = 10 each) exclusively targeted either strategy. All participants then learned 24 pseudo-Mandarin lexical items across three days. Participants in the optimal condition outperformed those in the sub-optimal and control conditions on the lexical learning task despite the fact that they did not attain the highest speech categorization accuracy. These results suggest that transitioning from reflective to reflexive strategies is ideal for applying learned speech categories to novel words.