ERIC Number: EJ965483
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Mar
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
The Case for Subphonemic Attenuation in Inner Speech: Comment on Corley, Brocklehurst, and Moat (2011)
Oppenheim, Gary M.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v38 n2 p502-512 Mar 2012
Corley, Brocklehurst, and Moat (2011) recently demonstrated a phonemic similarity effect for phonological errors in inner speech, claiming that it contradicted Oppenheim and Dell's (2008) characterization of inner speech as lacking subphonemic detail (e.g., features). However, finding "an effect" in both inner and overt speech is not the same as finding "equal effects" in inner and overt speech. In this response, I demonstrate that Corley et al.'s data are entirely consistent with the notion that inner speech lacks subphonemic detail and that each of their experiments exhibits a Similarity x Articulation interaction of about the same size that Oppenheim and Dell (2008, 2010) reported in their work. I further show that the major discrepancy between the labs' data lies primarily in the magnitude of the main effect of phonemic similarity and the overall efficiency of error elicitation, and demonstrate that greater similarity effects are associated with lower error rates. This leads to the conclusion that successful speech error research requires finding a sweet spot between too much randomness and not enough data. (Contains 4 figures, 3 tables and 10 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Inner Speech (Subvocal), Articulation (Speech), Phonemics, Exhibits, Phonology, Error Correction, Data Analysis, Coding, Schemata (Cognition), Feedback (Response), Experiments, Higher Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A