The Role of Additional Processing Time and Lexical Constraint in Spoken Word Recognition

Three phoneme monitoring experiments examined the manner in which additional processing time influences spoken word recognition. Experiment 1a introduced a version of the phoneme monitoring paradigm in which a silent interval is inserted prior to the word-final target phoneme. Phoneme monitoring reaction time decreased as the silent interval increased indicating that lexical knowledge was utilized more effectively with additional processing time. Experiment 1b used short, medium, and long words and derived nonwords with word-initial mismatching segments. Phoneme monitoring response times to words and nonwords were sensitive to both additional processing time (silent interval delay) and word length. Experiment 2 examined the utilization of anticipatory coarticulation as a function of word length and additional processing time. The results suggest that (segmental and coarticulatory) information subsequent to mismatching information influences spoken word recognition in a manner dependent on word length and availability of additional processing time.