Phonetic factors in the dichotic alignment of the Staggered Spondaic Word Test

The dichotic alignment of the competing monosyllables of the SSW EC tape was measured at 6 alignment reference points: word and sonorancy onset, center, and offset. Acoustic phonetic characteristics of the onsets and offsets of the competing monosyllables were also measured, including the durations of the pre- and post-sonorancy speech signal as well as binary codes for fricatives, nasals, plosives and liquids. Factor analysis of these variables suggested that the perceptual alignment process used with the EC tape may have indeed allowed phonetic variables to influence non-dichotic alignment.