Vowels, then consonants: Early bias switch in recognizing segmented word forms

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Linguistics
• Cognitive science

Background:

• The division of labor hypothesis suggests consonants are key for word recognition.
• A consonant bias (C-bias) is observed in adults and toddlers, but cross-linguistic variation exists.
• Hypotheses on the consonant bias's origin predict different developmental paths in the first year.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the consonant bias in French-learning infants.
• To evaluate competing hypotheses on the consonant bias's developmental trajectory.
• To determine the relative importance of consonants versus vowels in early word recognition.

Main Methods:

• Word form segmentation experiments with 6- and 8-month-old French-learning infants.
• Familiarization with passages containing monosyllabic target words.
• Testing recognition of segmented words with consonant and/or vowel mispronunciations.

Main Results:

• A consonant bias was found at 8 months of age.
• An opposite vowel bias was observed at 6 months of age.
• Findings indicate the consonant bias emerges between 6 and 8 months in French-learning infants.

Conclusions:

• The consonant bias in word recognition is not present at 6 months but emerges by 8 months.
• Developmental trajectory of the consonant bias may be influenced by pre-lexical and phonological acquisition.
• Cross-linguistic factors may shape the emergence of the consonant bias in infants.