Related Experiment Videos
Emerging integration of sequential and suprasegmental information in preverbal speech segmentation
1Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
Child Development
|August 1, 1995
Summary
Nine-month-olds integrate rhythm and syllable order for speech segmentation, unlike six-month-olds who rely solely on rhythm. This developmental shift impacts early language acquisition.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Linguistics
Background:
- Infants segment speech to identify word units.
- Syllable ordering and rhythm are crucial acoustic cues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how 6- and 9-month-old infants use syllable ordering and rhythm for speech segmentation.
- To determine the developmental progression of integrating sequential and suprasegmental speech information.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a noise detection task to measure syllable pair cohesiveness.
- Employed a discrimination maintenance task to assess representation compactness.
- Analyzed infant responses to syllable strings with varying rhythmic and ordering regularities.
Main Results:
- Nine-month-olds integrated both rhythmic and ordering cues for speech segmentation.
- Six-month-olds segmented speech based on rhythmic cues alone.
- Rhythmic cues were sufficient for 6-month-olds' segmentation, irrespective of ordering.
Conclusions:
- Nine-month-olds demonstrate an advanced ability to integrate auditory information for phonological perception.
- This developmental milestone in integrating sequential and suprasegmental cues is vital for efficient speech processing.
- The emergence of integrative abilities supports the formation of an initial lexicon in infants.