Distinctive Feature Use in Speech Perception of Children

For adults, the time required to judge whether two phonemes are "same" or "different" has been shown to vary inversely with the number of features on which the phonemes contrast. The present study measured the choice reaction time (CRT) judgments involving all possible pairs of 12 selected English consonants by five-, six-, and seven-year-old children. The same inverse relationship between CRT and feature contrasts typical of adults was exhibited by the children as a group. However, feature profile differences were exhibited according to sex and age. In addition, a multidimensional analysis (INDSCAL) of the proximity judgments as reflected by the CRTs was performed to determine the specific dimensions used by the children. A six-dimensional solution revealed the following perceptual strategies as the bases of their judgments: sibilant frequency, continuancy, voicing, stop, place of articulation, and age of acquisition or markedness.