Effect of “Click” Location within a Word on Location Errors

Abstract

The effect of “click” location within a word on the direction of the errors in click location was investigated. Twenty-four experimental sentences were randomized three times with 37 padding sentences. The clicks in the experimental sentences were located on the word immediately preceding or following the major syntactic boundary with an equal number occurring in both positions to balance any effect of syntax. The clicks were located either in the middle of the first half of the word, middle of the last half of the word, or in the middle of the word. The exact position within the word was verified by means of the Kay sonograph. Three groups of 18 subjects heard the sentences and clicks dichotically. Group I heard the tape with the clicks center, Group II heard the clicks first half, and Group III heard the clicks last half. Six subjects in each group heard one of the three randomizations for each condition. Subjects were provided with a text of the sentences and were instructed to indicate where the click occurred with a slash mark. Results indicated that click location within a word is an extremely important variable. When the click occurred in the first half of the word, significantly more responses preceded the word than for the click center or click last half condition. This finding was also observed for the click last half, i.e., more responses after the word than in the other two conditions. These findings indicate that a careful control and verification of click location is essential in an investigation where simultaneously presented clicks and speech stimuli are used.