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Canonical and non-canonical syllable discrimination by two-day-old infants*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Christine Moon ,
Thomas G. Bever  and
William P. Fifer
Christine Moon*
Affiliation:
Pacific Lutheran University
Thomas G. Bever
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
William P. Fifer
Affiliation:
Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute
*
Department of Psychology, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA 98447, USA.
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Abstract

Canonical syllables may be important units in early speech perception as well as production. Twenty infants (mean age 51 hours) (and twenty controls) were tested for their ability to discriminate between members of syllable pairs which were either canonical (pæt and tæp) or non-canonical (pst and tsp). A discrimination learning method was used in which syllables signalled the availability of either a recording of the mother's voice or silence – one of which was presented if the infant began a sucking burst. Infants in the canonical condition changed sucking patterns during signals over an 18-minute experimental session and activated their mother's voice more than silence, consistent with previous experiments using mother's voice as a reinforcer. In the non-canonical condition, infants also changed sucking patterns but sucked more during the signal for quiet than mother's voice, contrary to previous findings. Differential sucking during the syllables indicated discrimination in both conditions, but infants responded differently depending upon whether the syllables were canonical or non-canonical. The activation of silence in the non-canonical condition may be the result of a preference for quiet, but it is better explained as a failure to progress to a level of differential responding that was reached by the canonical group.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , February 1992 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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Footnotes

*

This research was supported by NICHD grant RO1 HD22817 to the first author and RO1 HD20102 to the third. Stimuli were prepared at Haskins Laboratory with support of NICHD contract NO1 HD52910. We would like to thank the Departments of Neonatology and newborn nursery personnel at North Central Bronx Hospital and Babies Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, for their co-operation and support .

References

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