Probabilistic constraint satisfaction at the lexical/phonetic interface: evidence for gradient effects of within-category VOT on lexical access

Research in speech perception has been dominated by a search for invariant properties of the signal that correlate with lexical and sublexical categories. We argue that this search for invariance has led researchers to ignore the perceptual consequences of systematic variation within such categories and that sensitivity to this variation may provide an important source of information for integrating information over time in speech perception. Data from a study manipulating VOT continua in words using an eye-movement paradigm indicate that lexical access shows graded sensitivity to within-category variation in VOT and that this sensitivity has a duration sufficient to be useful for information integration. These data support a model in which the perceptual system integrates information from multiple sources and from the surrounding temporal context using probabilistic cue-weighting mechanisms.