Developmental patterns in vowel perception

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This research program explores the development of phonetic perception and how it changes with age and language experience to support language processing.  The proposed research focuses on the development of vowel perception in early infancy and will evaluate the merits of the Natural Referent Vowel Model (NRV).   According to this model, vowels with extreme articulatory-acoustic properties (peripheral in the vowel space) act as natural referents; they support and guide the development of vowel perception by attracting infant attention and establishing a stable default perceptual framework for the learner. Previous studies of infant listening preferences for different vowels support this view by showing that infants (4 to 12 months of age) have a strong a perceptual bias favoring peripheral vowels.  Studies 1 and 2 will examine infant vowel preferences over a wider age range.  We will test younger and older infants to understand how and when this vowel perceptual bias emerges and how it changes with age in infants acquiring different languages.  Studies 3 and 4 will assess the claim that peripheral vowels support the development of vowel perception.  Study 3 tests the prediction that infant vowel perception biases also impact how they perceive their own vocal patterns by examining infant listening preferences for vowels produced by an infant talker (using a new tool for vowel synthesis). Study 4 will assess infant ability to recognize the same vowel when produced by different talkers (adult, child, infant) to test the prediction that vowel category recognition is easier for infants when they are responding to a peripheral vowel compared to non-peripheral vowel.  Studies 3 and 4 and will also make a unique contribution to our understanding of infant speech perception by providing the first insights into how infants respond to speech that sound like an infant talker. No previous studies of infant speech perception have used infant-like speech materials; this approach is needed to understand the interaction between listening and speaking skills in infant speech development.