Acquiring an artificial lexicon: Segment type and order information in early lexical entries

Abstract

The role of segment similarity in early (i.e., partially learned) lexical entries was assessed using artificial lexicons in a referential context. During a learning phase participants heard 40 nonsense words, each accompanied by an unfamiliar picture. In testing, participants heard the direction “Click on the [X]”, and chose which of four pictures was the target (X). Target lexical items (e.g., pibo ) appeared with foils that were similar: cohort items ( pib u), rhymes ( d ibo ), matched consonants ( p a b u) or matched vowels ( d i k o ). Two initial experiments demonstrated cohort and rhyme confusions, similar to lexical activation findings. Four further experiments explored the role of segment similarity in word confusions. Consonant-matched CVCV stimuli were more strongly confused with each other than were vowel-matched CVCV stimuli. Placing consonants in syllable-final position (VC[f]VC) weakened consonant effects and strengthened vowel effects. These results suggest that syllable-initial segments play a strong role in word similarity and constrain the organization of new lexical items.