Representational specificity of lexical form: Implications for models of spoken word recognition

Abstract

Much recent work on spoken-word recognition has suggested that the representation of phonological form in memory is quite specific and veridical, coding such lexically nondistinctive information as talker voice and allophonic variation. The implications of this research for current models of spoken word recognition will be discussed. In particular, exemplar-based approaches to modeling spoken word recognition and the need for multiple levels of representation of sound patterns in memory, ranging from specific, instance-based representations to more general, abstract phonological forms will also be discussed.