Role of distinctive features in dichotic perception of 21 English consonants

The role distinctive features played in the identification of 21 dichotically presented syllable initial English consonants was evaluated. Results were analyzed for the entire stimulus set and for various intra- and inter-manner class comparisons. Consistent with previous dichotic studies of stops alone, stops as a subgroup showed a large right ear advantage, a high incidence of blend errors, and greater accuracy in identification when the competing stimuli contrasted on one (rather than two) distinctive features. Results for manner classes other than stops, for inter-manner comparisons and for the total stimulus set indicated increased correct identification with increasing numbers of distinctive feature differences between the two syllables. Analysis of error patterns revealed that, in addition to the stops, continuants, and stop-continuant, stop-affricate, and stop-nasal pairs revealed significant numbers of blend errors. Error responses also showed a tendency for unmarked feature specifications to predominate significantly over marked feature specifications. Finally, the magnitude of the right ear advantage varied significantly as a function of manner class, but not as a function of number of feature contrasts.