Training articulation sequences: A first systematic modulation of the articulatory in-out effect

People prefer words with consonant articulation locations moving inward, from the front to the back of the mouth (e.g., menika), over words with consonant articulation locations moving outward, from the back to the front of the mouth (e.g., kemina). Here, we modulated this in-out effect by increasing the fluency of one consonant direction. Participants (total N = 735) memorized either inward or outward moving words. Afterward they evaluated different inward and outward words. In Experiment 1, training 60 outward (compared to inward) words led to a marginally significant attenuation of the in-out effect. In Experiment 2 and a preregistered replication (Experiment 3), training 120 inward words increased the size of the in-out effect, while training 120 outward words reversed the in-out effect. Experiment 4 confirms that consonant direction training affects fluency and rules out alternative explanations. Together, these experiments further supports a fluency explanation of the in-out effect and shows that abstract oral motor sequences can be learned implicitly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).