Possible word boundary constraints on multiple activation of form‐based representations of spoken words.

Abstract

Most current theories of spoken word perception (e.g., Cohort theory, TRACE, Shortlist, Neighborhood Activation Model) propose that multiple form‐based representations of words are activated in memory during recognition. Few of these theories, however, specify the precise nature of multiple activation of words in fluent speech or the constraints on activation imposed by information within the speech signal. The degree to which word boundary information in two‐word sequences may limit lexical hypotheses during recognition was examined. Using a cross‐modal priming technique, spoken two‐word utterances, such as NOTE‐RAIL, were presented and the activation of possible lexical items spanning the word boundary (e.g., TRAIL) was investigated. The implications of these results for current theories of spoken word recognition will be discussed. [Work supported by NIDCD.]