Discrimination of native and nonnative speech-sounds by newborns.

Title: Discrimination of native and nonnative speech-sounds by newborns.
Identifier: AAI9820557
identifier: 9820557
Creator: Litwin, Elissa.
Contributor: Adviser: Gerald Turkewitz
Date: 1998
Language: English
Publisher: City University of New York.
Subject: Psychology, Developmental | Psychology, Cognitive | Psychology, Experimental
Abstract: This research was undertaken to investigate whether one-two day old infants born to American-English speaking mothers could discriminate the native /ba/ ( (p'a)) - /pa/ {dollar}\rm(\lbrack p\sp{lcub}h{rcub}a\rbrack){dollar} contrast, and native /ba/ ( (p'a)) - non-native /ba/ ( (ba)) contrast. The high-amplitude sucking technique was used in both experiments. In Experiment I, infants were tested on speech-sound stimuli that ranged from {dollar}-{dollar}20 to +80 ms voice-onset-time (VOT). There was evidence that the infant subjects discriminated the native speech-sounds between +20 to +40 ms (VOT), which coincides with the adult boundary for bilabial stop consonants. In Experiment II, infants were tested speech-sound stimuli that ranged from {dollar}-{dollar}100 ms to 0 ms VOT. These infants failed to show evidence of discriminating a contrast. These findings support the view that speech-sound discrimination is due to pre-natal exposure rather than innate factors.
Type: dissertation
Source: PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
degree: Ph.D.