Perception of Wordlikeness: Effects of Segment Probability and Length on the Processing of Nonwords

A probabilistic phonotactic grammar based on the probabilities of the constituents contained in a dictionary of English was used to generate multisyllabic nonwords. English-speaking listeners evaluated the wordlikeness of these patterns. Wordlikeness ratings were higher for nonwords containing high-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of memory and language 2000-05, Vol.42 (4), p.481-496
Main Authors: Frisch, Stefan A., Large, Nathan R., Pisoni, David B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Language
Memory
Nonwords
Phonetics
phonotactics
Production and perception of spoken language
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
recognition memory
wordlikeness
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Summary:A probabilistic phonotactic grammar based on the probabilities of the constituents contained in a dictionary of English was used to generate multisyllabic nonwords. English-speaking listeners evaluated the wordlikeness of these patterns. Wordlikeness ratings were higher for nonwords containing high-probability constituents and were also higher for nonwords with fewer syllables. Differences in the processing of these same nonwords that partially reflected their perceived wordlikeness were also found in a recognition memory task. Nonwords with higher probability constituents yielded better recognition memory performance, suggesting that participants were able to use their knowledge of frequently occurring lexical patterns to improve recognition. These results suggest that lexical patterns provide the foundation of an emergent phonological competence used to process nonwords in both linguistic and metalinguistic tasks.
ISSN:0749-596X
1096-0821
DOI:10.1006/jmla.1999.2692