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Developmental loss of speech perception: Exposure to and experience with a first language1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Denis K. Burnham
Denis K. Burnham*
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales
*
Denis K. Burnham, Infant Research Centre, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W., 2033, Australia
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Abstract

Young infants perceive a variety of speech contrasts, even those that are not relevant in their own language environment. Evidence regarding the loss of perceptual ability with phonologically irrelevant contrasts is reviewed and a theoretical distinction is advanced. It is proposed that the perception of “fragile” contrasts is lost in infancy due to lack of exposure to particular sounds, while the perception of “robust” contrasts is lost around the onset of formal language training due to lack of experience with phonologically irrelevant contrasts. This distinction should provide a heuristic framework for future research on the development of speech perception.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 207 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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Footnotes

1

Ms. Lynda Earnshaw’s comments on an earlier draft and her assistance in preparatior of the manuscript were most valuable and are greatly appreciated, as are the comments of two anonymous reviewers. Research reported in this paper was supported by the Austrlian Research Grants Scheme (grant A28315988) to the author and J. E. Clark.

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