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Identifying the *eel on the Table: An Examination of Processes that Aid Spoken Word Ambiguity Resolution

Szostak, Christine Marie

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Because ambiguous words frequently occur in running speech, the perceptual system must somehow resolve the ambiguities. If disambiguating context is present, it can aid resolution. When the disambiguation follows the ambiguity, the perceptual system delays resolution. Four Experiments investigated this delay. In Experiment 1, participants heard sentences containing a target word with a phoneme replaced by or intermixed with noise followed by disambiguating context close to or far from the target word (e.g., "The *ing had feathers." or "The *ing had an exquisite set of feathers."). In Experiments 2a and 2b duration between target word offset and disambiguation varied while syllable number remained constant. In Experiment 3 syllable number within this region varied while duration remained constant. Increasing syllable number caused early commitment. When the duration was also increased, early commitment was not observed. The findings suggest that sufficient processing time is necessary for the perceptual system to delay ambiguity resolution.
Mark Pitt, PhD (Advisor)
Simon Dennis, PhD (Committee Member)
Eric Healy, PhD (Committee Member)

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Szostak, C. M. (2009). Identifying the *eel on the Table: An Examination of Processes that Aid Spoken Word Ambiguity Resolution [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1251830663

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Szostak, Christine. Identifying the *eel on the Table: An Examination of Processes that Aid Spoken Word Ambiguity Resolution. 2009. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1251830663.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Szostak, Christine. "Identifying the *eel on the Table: An Examination of Processes that Aid Spoken Word Ambiguity Resolution." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1251830663

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)