Abstract
Two studies of the subjective location of clicks in spoken sentences indicate: (1) within-clause phrase structure boundaries do not significantly affect the segmentation of spoken sentences; (2) divisions between underlying structure sentences determine segmentation even in the absence of corresponding explicit clause divisions in the surface phrase structure. These results support a model of speech processing according to which listeners actively segment and organize spoken sequences into potential underlying syntactic structures.
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This work was supported by NDEA, AF 19 (628) 5705 to M.I.T., Grant No. SD-187 Department of Defense Advanced Projects Agency to Harvard University and NIMH No. PO1-MH 12623 Harvard University, and by the Harvard Society of Fellows. We are indebted to H. L. Teuber, P. Rosenbaum, R. Hurtig, V. Valian, and H. Savin for advice on this manuscript.
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Bever, T.G., Lackner, J.R. & Kirk, R. The underlying structures of sentences are the primary units of immediate speech processing. Perception & Psychophysics 5, 225–234 (1969). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210545
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210545