Teickner, C. 1 , Becker, A. 1 & Friedrich, C. K. 2
1 University of Hamburg
2 University of Tübingen
Adult spoken word processing is gradually sensitive to mismatch between the speech signal and phonological word form representations. In the current study we investigated the development of phonological representations in the first year of life. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) while infants listened to single syllables (primes) followed by complete German words (targets). Common disyllabic words, frequently used in caregiver-infant interactions, were chosen from an early words screening inventory (German version of the McArthur Communicative Development Inventories). Primes and targets were presented in three different conditions. In an identity condition, primes match the onsets of the target words (e.g., ma - Mama). In a variation condition, primes deviate from targets in their initial place of articulation (e.g., na - Mama). In a control condition, phonemes of primes and targets differ completely (e.g., vo - Mama). We tested 30 infants from German speaking parents at the age of three and six months. ERPs suggest that in contrast to adults, infants at the age of three months do not group the identity and the variation condition together. This indicates that phonological processing at three month does not tolerate mismatch in place of articulation. On the contrary, we found no differences in the ERPs for the identity and the variation condition of at the age of six months. Thus it appears that phonological word form representations established around six month after birth tolerate place variation.