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Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
The limits of metrical segmentation: intonation modulates infants' extraction of embedded trochees
Katharina Zahner1, Muna Schönhuber1, Bettina Braun1
1University of Konstanz.
Abstract:
We tested German nine-month-olds' reliance on pitch and metrical stress for segmentation. In a headturn-preference paradigm, infants were familiarized with trisyllabic words (weak-strong-weak (WSW) stress pattern) in sentence-contexts. The words were presented in one of three naturally occurring intonation conditions: one in which high pitch was aligned with the stressed syllable and two misalignment conditions (with high pitch preceding vs. following the stressed syllable). Infants were tested on the SW unit of the WSW carriers. Experiment 1 showed recognition only when the stressed syllable was high-pitched. Intonation of test items (similar vs. dissimilar to familiarization) had no influence (Experiment 2). Thus, German nine-month-olds perceive stressed syllables as word onsets only when high-pitched, although they already generalize over different pitch contours. Different mechanisms underlying this pattern of results are discussed.
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