Development of a distinctive feature discrimination test

Construction and standardization is described of a distinctive feature discrimination test (DFDT) incorporating a modified Miller-Nicely system of distinctive features. The test is a rhyme-type where error responses in a closed set were chosen to be one, two, and three distinctive features removed from the stimulus word. Performance-intensity (P.I) functions were established with 6 normal-hearing young women (12 ears) at SPLs or 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 db under each of three filter bandpass conditions: .2-6, .2-1.2, and .2-.6 kc/s. P-I functions were presented for unweighted scores and for scores where error responses were weighted in terms of distinctive feature differences from stimulus items. The 4 DFDT lists generated, and their 3 randomizations each, appear to have a reasonable degree of inter-list reliability and it is felt that the 12 resultant list may be used interchangeably, This preliminary study indicated that the DFDT test may provide more diagnostic information than currently-used discrimination test.