WAYNE A. WlCKELGREN
Departmentof Psychology,
Massachusetts
Instituteof Technology,
Cambridge,
Massachusetts
02139
INTRODUCTION
by a conventionaldistinctive-featureanalysison two
dimensions:place of articulation(front,back)andopen-
NTRUSION
lists are not errorsinimmediate
random. recall
Recent studies bv ofverbal
Conrad • nessof the vocal tract (narrow,medium,and wide).
and Wickelgren2.3on short-term recall of lists of letters Petersonand Barney5 and Miller 6had foundpreviously
and digits have demonstratedthat intrusions tend to that the samedimensions areinvolvedin theperception
have a vowel or consonantphonemein commonwith of vowels, suggestingthat perceptionand STM use
the correctitem. •his indicatesthat the internalrepre- the samesystemof internalrepresentatives. Althoughit
sentativeof a (verbal) item in short-termmemory is not possibleat present to determinewhether this
(STM) is not a singleelement,but a set of internal systemof internal representatives is sensoryor motor,
representatives of the phonemescomposingthe item. no supportcan be obtainedfrom any of thesestudies
The phonemic-coding hypothesispermits partial for- for the more "abstract" (nonsensory and nonmotor)
gettingof an item and accountsfor the phonemicsimi- level of the Chomsky-Hallefeaturesystem.7
larity of intrusionsto the correctitem. In auditory perceptionof consonants in noise,Miller
If the STM representative of a letter or digit is a set and Nicelys demonstratedthat errors are nonrandom
of representativesof phonemes,it is natural to ask and tend to correlate with their distinctive-feature
whether the representativeof a phonemeis a set of analysis,describedin Table I. The two purposesof the
representativesof its distinctive features.A previous presentstudyare to (a) determineif errorsin STM for
study4 indicated that this was the case for vowel for consonants tend to have features in common with
phonemes,and almost perfect rank-orderpredictions the correctconsonant,and (b) determinewhat distinc-
weremadeof the frequencyof differentintrusionerrors tive-feature system best predicts these errors. In
• R. Conrad, "Acoustic Confusionsin Immediate Memory," 5 G. E. Petersonand H. L. Barney, "Control Methods Used in a
Brit. J. Psychol.55, 75-84 (1964). Study of the Vowels,"J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 24, 175-184 (1952).
• W. A. Wickelgren,"AcousticSimilarity and Intrusion Erorrs 0 G. A. Miller, "The Perception of Speech,' in For Roman
in Short-Term Memory," J. Exptl. Psychol.70, 102-108 (1965). Jakobson,M. Halle, Ed. (Mouton & Co., The Hague, 1956), pp.
a W. A. Wickelgren, "Similarity and Intrusions in Short-Term 353-359.
Memory for Consonant-Vowel Digrams," Quart. J. Exptl. 7N. Chomskyand M. Halle, SoundPatternof English (to be
Psychol. 17, 241-246 (1965). published).
4 W. A. Wickelgren, "Distinctive Featuresand Errors in Short- 8 G. A. Miller and P. E. Nicely, "An Analysisof Perceptual
Term Memory for English Vowels," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 38, Confusionsamong Some English Consonants,"J. Acoust. Soc.
583-588 (1965). Am. 27, 338-352 (1955).
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES AND SHORT-TERM MEMORY
additionto thefeaturesystemproposed-by
Miller and TABLEII. H distinctive-featuresystem.
Nicely (MN), a featuresystemproposedby Halleø (H)
Conso- Voic- Nas- Vo- Conso- Contin- Stri-
and Chomskyand Halle* for the parsimoniousdescrip-
nant ing ality calic nantal uant dent Grave Diffuse
,ion cf English soundstructure and a feature system
1 1
propcsedby the author (W) are investigated.These P 0 0 0 1 0 0
1 1
feature systemsare describedin Tables II and III. b 1 0 0 1 0 0
MN hasfive dimensions'voicing,nasal!,y,affrication, m 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1
dimension
is defined
oneveryconsonant,
andall con- • o o o 1 o 1 0 0
sonantshave a uniquecharacterizationin termsof their 0 0
values
oneach
ofthefivedimensions.
However,
ifMN i 1 0 0 ! 0 1 1 0
were
tobeextended
toallEnglish
consonants,
it would k 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
require
some
additional
dimensions
orvalues
tohandle g 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
laterals,semivowels,
andtheconsonants/6,/,/)'/,
and f o o o 1 1 1
1 1
/h/. v ! o o 1 1 1
H has eight binary dimensionson which consonants 0 0 o o 1 1 o 0 1
latorydescription
of thevalues
of thedimensions
in the • o o 0 1 1 1 0 0
H system,
but thesystem
is unnatural
andinelegant • 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0
as a descriptionof articulation and no attempt is made 1 1
byHalletovalidate
thesystem
onthese
grounds)
The w 1 o o 0 1 o 0 0
features
should
be considered
to be "abstract,"
not r 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
necessarily
havinga simpleacoustic
or articulatory 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
0 1
description,
though
recognition
andproduction
ofspeech y ! o o o 1 0
1 0
demandthat there be some,perhapscomplex,relation- h 0 0 0 0 1 0
ship between the abstract features and their acoustic
and articulatorycounterparts.The H systemis designed
primarily to give a parsimoniousdescriptionof the ad-
missiblesoundsequences in English, but we are con-
TABLEI. MN distinctive-featuresystem. cernedwith how accuratethe H systemis in predicting
the rank order of different intrusion errors in short-term
recall.
Consonant Voicing Nasality Affrication Duration Place
The W system,like the MN system,is more similar
p 0 0 0 0 0
to conventionalphonetic analysisof consonantsthan
b 1 0 0 0 0
the H system.Only four dimensionsare used,but open-
m 1 1 0 0 0
nessof the vocal tract has three values for consonants,
t 0 0 0 0 1
and place of articulationhas five values.Voicing and
d 1 0 0 0 1 nasalityareexactlythesameasin theothertwosystems.
n 1 1 0 0 1 The single dimension of opennessin the W system
k 0 0 0 0 2 handles"mannerof articulation," whichis handled (in
g 1 0 0 0 2 a somewhat different manner) by two dimensions
f 0 0 1 0 0 (affrication and duration) in the MN system and by
v 1 0 1 0 0
four dimensions(vocal!c,consonantal,continuant, and
0 0 0 1 0 1
strident)in the H system.Placeof articulationis coded
on a 5-pointscalein the W system,on a slightlyrougher
15 1 0 1 0 1
3-point scalein the MN system,and on two binary
s 0 0 1 1 1
dimensions(graveand diffuse)in the H system.
z 1 0 1 1 1
Notice that the openness of the vocal tract and place
,• o o 1 1 2 of articulation are the same two dimensions that were so
• 1 o 1 1 2 accuratein predicting the errors in STM for English
vowels.Of course,the valuesof the openness dimension
for vowelswould begin with a value greater than that
9M. Halle, "On the Basesof Phonology,"in The Structureof
Language,J. A. Fodor and J. J. Katz, Eds. (Prentice-Hall, Inc., for the semivowels.
Thus, openness is conceivedto code
EnglewoodCliffs,N.J., 1964),pp. 324-333. on a single6-pointscalethe difference between(1) stop
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
W. A. WICKELGREN
v 1 0 1 0 I. 16-CONSONANT EXPERIMENT
0 o o 1 1
•5 1 o 1 1
Sixteenconsonant-vowel (CV) itemswereused,con-
s 0 0 1 2
sistingof the 16 consonants
ptkf0s•bdgv•Sz•.mn
followed
by the vowel/a/ (as in father). A set of 100 lists of
z 1 0 1 2
six CV items each and a set of 100 lists of seven CV
• o o 1 3 items each were constructed. No consonant was ever
• 1 o 1 3 used twice in the samelist. Subjectslistenedto a list
w 1 0 2 0 of CV items presentedat the rate of one item/sec.
r 1 0 2 1 Subjectscopiedthe initial consonantof each CV item
i 1 0 2 2 while the list was beingpresented,coveringwhat they
y 1 0 2 3 had copied.After copyingall items, they attempted to
recall the entire list of consonants in the correct order
h 0 0 2 4
(by fillingin boxes).Time for recallof thelist wasabout
18 sec,so one trial lasted about 25 sec.
Subjectswere 33 MassachusettsInstitute of Tech-
nology undergraduates taking psychology courses.
consonants;(2) fricatives; (3) semivowels,laterals,
and/h/, (4) high (narrow-opening) vowels,(5) medium They constituteda rather broad regionalsamplingof
the United States of America. Seventeensubjectsre-
vowels,and (6) low (wide-opening) vowels.Valuesof
ceived the lists with six items each, and !6 subjects
the placedimensionfor vowelslie within the rangefor
consonants. receivedthe lists with sevenitems each. The speaker
was a male who had grownup in Connecticut.
While the W system gives a unique articulatory
Careful instruction and numerous examples were
descriptionof every consonant,it doesnot attempt to
given prior to the experiment'on the distinction be-
give a completedescriptionof the articulation of each
tween/0/and/•5/and between/z/and/2/. Subjects
consonant.Thus, lip-rounding,tongue-tipretroflection,
lateralization, and pharynx width are not indicated were instructedto write "th" for/0/, "•-•" for/•5/,
explicitly, althoughsomemight considerthesespecial "sh" for/•/, and "zh" for/2/.
featuresto be more characteristic of/w/,/r/,/1/, and II. 23-CONSONANT EXPERIMENT
/h/ than the W classification in termsof the general
positionof themassof the tongue(placeof articulation). When a subject recalls the wrong consonantin a
Also, voicing is indicated as a two-valueddimension, particularpositionin a list, it is muchmorelikely to be
even though the degreeof effort necessaryto produce another consonantfrom the same list (intralist intru-
voiceis greaterfor stop consonants than for fricatives,
sion)than a consonantnot presentedin the list (extra-
nasals,and semivowels. If STM is primarily in a speech-list intrusion). Furthermore, the intralist intrusion
motor system, rather than an auditory system, the tendsto be from a nearbyposition.The previousexperi-
degreeof effort necessaryto producevoicemight be the ment was not systematicallycontrolledwith respectto
moreaccuratedimension.However,the 2-valuedvoicing the frequencyof occurrence of all pairs of consonants
in
dimensionis a reasonablefirst approximationin this the same lists at different degreesof adjacency.This
case.
could result in some random error in the frequency
Sincephonemicsimilarity has already been demon- of differentintrusionsto any givenpresentedconsonant.
strated to correlatewith intrusion frequency,it is im- The secondexperiment was designedto reduce this
portant to controlphonemicsimilarityin the population source of error and to obtain a short-term-recall error
from•.•whichlists are constructed.Thus, letters and matrix for all 23 consonants that can occur in initial
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES AND SHORT-TERM MEMORY
15 11 998 17 5 29 24 14 11 16 12 2 12 7 6 12 72 193
27 11 18 1055 8 23 19 20 21 8 26 9 18 18 9 12 86 247
39 20 18 21 994 45 21 35 17 16 27 11 11 20 11 11 83 323
14 9 18 23 10 856 17 13 13 19 14 5 13 14 5 10 62 197
k 35 12 16 18 8 11 954 10 20 12 13 3 14 14 11 14 83 211
f 23 12 25 16 1 24 31 16 744 16 19 7 19 9 12 3 84 233
17 4 10 36 7 21 19 12 19 6 674 32 18 13 10 9 83 233
4 6 5 9 7 15 6 5 7 16 65 571 4 8 6 7 38 170
s 16 13 19 21 9 13 16 13 18 12 25 4 911 22 35 13 69 249
z 13 9 11 18 13 7 14 32 10 31 17 11 37 816 9 46 98 278
12 7 18 19 16 13 19 11 11 15 33 13 42 17 993 17 73 263
13 12 12 10 5 10 13 13 14 22 11 10 17 88 26 815 66 276
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
W. A. WICKELGREN
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES AND SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014
05:24:39
Wo A. WI(gKELGR[•EN
TABLe.
VII. Rankingof 22 otherpresented
consonants
Intrusion (consonantrecalled)
p b m t d n •; 5 k g f
Rank of presentedconsonant
1 k j b g rn n • • 0 k v
9.43 5.71
13.22 6.62 7.25 13.35 7.02 5.75 10.47 8.89 9.89
2 b p r n 0 y • • • j r
9.13 5.19 9.79 6.48 6.98 10.83 6.89 4.99 9.19 6.85 8.73
3 rn d y P n d k 1 j r s
8.74 5.15 8.24 6.32
8.62 5.74 9.82 5.12 4.77 8.90 6.08
4 t k h v •5 p t j 0 g b
8.48 5.12 8.04 6.07 5.64 9.82 5.02 4.65 8.90 5.94 8.52
5 w g w d y r 0 d p d 0
8.43 4.76 7.95 6.01 5.18 8.73 4.65 4.29 7.67 5.79 8.14
6 v 7.46 y 4.71 • 7.85 •55.97 •55.11 v 8.31 p4.29 p 4.06 I 7.59 • 5.37 h 8.04
7 • w b z r 1 •5 g •5 t k
7.13 4.58 7.31 5.87 5.03 8.03 4.26 3.93 6.82 5.13 7.82
8 0 r f s t p s z n z rn
6.98 4.50 7.03 5.83 4.91 7.22 4.20 3.91 6.73 4.89 7.77
9 f v v E k j f b h f •
6.81 4.49 6.97 5.52 4.85 6.85 4.18 3.88 6.62 4.84 7.60
10 h t d h j k 1 k f w b
.6.38 4.24 6.87 5.20 4.79 6.74 3.90 3.77 5.93 4.82 7.31
11 r n p k b g w •5 t p •
6.35 4.24 6.55 5.12 4.79 6.62 3.61 3.41 5.58 4.51 6.67
12 s 0 1 r 1 h t • v rn z
6.29 3.49 6.29 5.03 4.77 6.62 2.90 3.31 5.39 4.37 6.60
13 n z h s g b r s 1• d
5.74 3.18 6.21
4.99 4.73 6.29 2.74 3.17 5.36 4.14 6.44
14 • h t rn z w g n z • P
5.46 3.07 6.03 4.85 4.40 6.27 2.69 2.99 5.13 4.04 6.32
• j f • f m t w 1 t
15 Y5.41 2.99 5.71 4.84 4.28 6.15 2.67 2.90 4.82 3.90 5.80
16 1 • w •5b n h gb h 1
4.99 2.85 5.40 4.55 3.61 5.71 2.49 2.84 4.79 3.55 5.42
1 • • f z r y d n •
17 g 4.97 2.82 4.99 4.13 3.30 4.65 2.38 2.82 4.51 3.49 5.37
18 z f s w m • h v r v n
4.65 2.63 4.90 3.61 3.16 4.28 2.36 2.47 4.23 3.15 5.24
19 d s 0 • v •5 y w y s y
4.08
2.56 4.65 3.33 3.15 4.26 2.35 2.41 4.23 3.03 5.18
20 • •5 z y • • d f rn •5 w
3.72 2.27 4.65 3.06 2.53 3.91 2.15 2.20 3.88 2.56 4.82
rn k j s • v s • Y J
21 J 3.42 1.94 4.31 2.51 2.33 3.31 1.80 2.10 3.72 2.35 4.34
22 ti • •. o • o z rn • 0 g
2.56 1.65 4.14 2.33 1.24 1.16 1.47 0.97 3.09 1.16 3.73
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES AND SHORT-TERM MEMORY
by percentsubstitution
of eachintrusionconsonant.
Intrusion (consonantrecalled)
v 0 •5 s z • i w r 1
Rank of presentedconsonant
z •5 0 • • s z v w y w rn
6.11 4.54 11.63 9.26 11.16 7.46 8.56 5.62 11.33 12.24 5.78 6.55
n v t z s • O 1 d p h w
5.24 2.70 4.24 8.80 7.69 6.61 5.81 5.21 10.52 11.51 5.67 6.27
f v O f • • p 1 n 1 b
Y 4.71 2.64 3.37 6.98 4.84 3.22 5.75 4.29 10.20 10.97 5.64 6.16
k f f j j • r rn h rn 1
P 4.51 2.43 3.30 4.84 4.34 2.51 5.70 4.23 8.98 10.17 5.10 6.07
r • s r d 0 j • n w •
4.50 2.07 3.03 3.97 4.29 2.33 4.11 4.13 8.73 9.16 4.99 5.79
rn z • v g •5 t rn g g • f
4.37 1.71 2.99 3.82 4.14 2.27 3.12 4.13 8.69 8.90 4.96 5.71
b • z h 1 t •5 •5 •5 •5 j j
4.34 1.65 2.20 3.78 4.12 2.23 2.84 3.98 8.52 8.81 4.34 5.71
f s k • • f v t k rn z v
4.18 1.63 2.16 3.72 4.04 2.20 2.70 3.79 8.36 8.50 4.16 5.39
d r • g • rn w f f f d t
4.08 1.59 2.14 3.11 3.68 2.18 2.41 3.74 7.91 8.35 4.08 5.36
•5 g y b w w b s h r f s
3.98 1.45 2.12 2.97 3.61 2.17 2.28 3.73 7.09 8.20 3.74 5.36
h g p •5 z k g v t n
g 3.93 1.42 2.07 2.93 3.41 1.96 2.16 3.73 • 7.06 7.59 3.74 5.23
w t j • k d rn b • b r
3.86 1.34 2.05 2.76 3.23 1.93 1.94 3.65 7.02 7.08 3.44 5.06
• 1 1 •5 b k y d b k • y
3.72 1.30 1.95 2.56 3.20 1.87 1.88 3.65 6.85 7.01 3.22 4.94
d r j v g s n p • s g
J 3.65 1.29 1.85 2.28 2.92 1.66 1.86 3.24 6.32 6.90 3.03 4.76
0 n w 1 t y g • s • t k
3.49 1.25 1.69 2.17 2.90 1.41 1.86 3.09 6.06 6.65 2.90 4.58
t rn • w rn h r y 0 j v r
3.35 1.21 1.65 2.17 2.67 1.18 1.85 2.38 5.81 6.39 2.70 4.50
1 y d t n b h z [ s k z
3.25 1.18 1.50 2.01 2.49 1.14 1.65 2.20 5.75 6.29 2.43 4.40
[ j h rn r p 1 h j d 0 n
2.99 1.14 1.42 1.94 2.38 1.13 1.52 2.13 5.48 6.22 2.33 4.24
h b p y h v d k t v p d
2.84 1.14 1.35 1.88 2.13 1.12 1.50 1.89 5.36 6.07 2.26 4.08
s p n d y 1 p j • z g p
2.33 0.90 1.25 1.72 2.12 1.08 1.35 1.71 4.75 5.87 2.07 3.84
• • b k p r f • z • •5
1.90 0.48 1.14 1.62 1.81 0.53 0.66 1.36 4.65 4.96 1.99 3.72
k w rn n 0 n n 0 v 0 b
1.62 0.00 0.73 1.50 0.00 0.50 0.25 1.16 4.49 3.49 1.83 2.33
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
W. A. WICKELGREN
VIII.Accuracy
ofbinary
predictions
made
bythree
feature
systems.
System Dimension STM Total
STM Auditoryperception
16 cons. 23 cons. 16 cons.
%corr. N %corr. N %corr. N %corr. N
all Voicing 70 98 60 168 64 266 100 98
all Nasality 46 28 61 42 56 70 68 28
MN Affrication 64 56 75 56 70 112 59 56
MN Duration 54 28 57 28 55 56 61 28
MN Place 66 152 67 152 67 304 59 152
H Vocalic
& consonantal ...... 55 40 55 40
H Continuant 71 28 63 84 65 241 57 28
H Strident 54 28 50 42 51 70 46 28
H Grave 67 70 61 125 63 195 63 70
H Diffuse 54 56 62 84 59 140 57 56
W Openness 64 56 71 185 69 241 59 56
W Place 79 104 75 247 76 351 65 104
MN (A+D+P) 64 236 68 236 66 472 59 236
H (V&C+C+S+G+D) 62 182 60 375 60 557 58 182
W (O+P) 74 160 73 432 73 592 63 160
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES AND SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39
W. A. WICKELGREN
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 128.59.222.12 On: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:24:39