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Papers by Michelle Aldridge

Research paper thumbnail of Generalization in the vowel space

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of Prototype preference and magnet effects in newborns: Evidence for an innate component

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1994

Within the vowel space there are subareas which correspond to specific vowel categories. Within e... more Within the vowel space there are subareas which correspond to specific vowel categories. Within each subarea there is a point which defines the best exemplar or prototype of that vowel. Kuhl [J. Phon. 21, 125–139 (1993)] has argued that the area immediately surrounding a prototype is perceptually shrunken, with reduced variance in responding to points in that immediately surrounding area, a magnet effect [Kuhl (1993)]. Empirically, prototype points correspond to the averages of large numbers of utterances. This leads to the hypothesis that prototypes are learned. It is equally possible that prototypes are innate [Kuhl (1993)]. To decide between these two hypotheses an experiment was run with newborns. The vowel /y/ was used in the experiment; /y/ does not occur in Texas. The newborns’ only experience was provided in the experiment. ‘‘Best exemplar’’ was equated with ‘‘most attractive’’ measured by listening time in an operant choice task. Results indicated that experience did not determine preference. The...

Research paper thumbnail of Operant analyses of speech perception in newborns

Infant Behavior and Development, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of Hot spots in the newborn vowel space

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of Preverbal children with autism understand the intentions of others

Developmental …, 2000

There is a`theory of mind' theory of autism. Meltzoff has recently developed a procedure that giv... more There is a`theory of mind' theory of autism. Meltzoff has recently developed a procedure that gives a nonverbal assessment of`theory of mind'. A group of children with autism and a matched control group of normally developing infants were given three of Meltzoff's tasks and three conventional, gestural imitation tasks. The children with autism showed the expected deficits on gestural imitation, but were significantly better than the normally developing infants on the Meltzoff tasks. The implications of these results for a number of theoretical issues are discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Newborn categorization of vowel-like sounds

Developmental Science, 2001

While there are many theories of the development of speech perception, there are few data on spee... more While there are many theories of the development of speech perception, there are few data on speech perception in human newborns. This paper examines the manner in which newborns responded to a set of stimuli that define one surface of the adult vowel space. Experiment 1 used a preferential listeningahabituation paradigm to discover how newborns divide that vowel space. Results indicated that there were zones of high preference flanked by zones of low preference. The zones of high preference approximately corresponded to areas where adults readily identify vowels. Experiment 2 presented newborns with pairs of vowels from the zones found in Experiment 1. One member of each pair was the most preferred vowel from a zone, and the other member was the least preferred vowel from the adjacent zone of low preference. The pattern of preference was preserved in Experiment 2. However, a comparison of Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that habituation had occurred in Experiment 1. Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that the habituation seen in Experiment 1 was due to processes of categorization, by using a familiarization preference paradigm. The results supported the hypothesis that newborns categorized the vowel space in an adult-like manner, with vowels perceived as relatively good or poor exemplars of a vowel category.

Research paper thumbnail of The intermodal representation of speech in newborns

Developmental Science, 1999

It has been proposed that speech is specified by the eye, the ear, and even the skin. Kuhl and Me... more It has been proposed that speech is specified by the eye, the ear, and even the skin. Kuhl and Meltzoff (1984) showed that 4-month-olds could lipread to an extent. Given the age of the infants, it was not clear whether this was a learned skill or a by-product of the primary auditory process. This paper presents evidence that neonate infants (less than 33 h) show virtually identical patterns of intermodal interaction as do 4-month-olds. Since they are neonates, it is unlikely that learning was involved. The results indicate that human speech is specified by both eye and ear at an age when built-in structural sensitivities provide the most plausible explanation.

Research paper thumbnail of Structural and experiential factors in newborns' preference for speech sounds

Developmental Science, 2000

It is well established that newborns prefer some sounds over others. It is widely believed that t... more It is well established that newborns prefer some sounds over others. It is widely believed that these preferences reflect past experience, either prenatally or in the immediate postnatal environment. However, it is also possible that structural factors are involved. The frequency of occurrence of different sounds in the languages of the world may provide evidence of such structural factors. If structural factors are important, and if frequency of occurrence of sounds in the world's languages reflects structural factors, then we might expect newborn preference for sounds to reflect their frequency across languages. In this study, newborns were presented with two cv pairs consisting of a trilled ara and a bunched ara followed by the vowel a¡a. The newborns were either of English-speaking or Spanish-speaking origin. The bunched ara occurs in American English and is not frequent in the languages of the world. It does not occur in Spanish. The trilled ara occurs in Spanish and is a frequent consonant in the languages of the world. It does not occur in American English. Results showed that newborns of both linguistic backgrounds preferred to listen to the trilled ara. It is hypothesized that the frequency of occurrence of a sound in the languages of the world may reflect structurally based ease of production and ease of perception, the latter leading to the newborn preference.

Research paper thumbnail of Generalization in the vowel space

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of Prototype preference and magnet effects in newborns: Evidence for an innate component

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1994

Within the vowel space there are subareas which correspond to specific vowel categories. Within e... more Within the vowel space there are subareas which correspond to specific vowel categories. Within each subarea there is a point which defines the best exemplar or prototype of that vowel. Kuhl [J. Phon. 21, 125–139 (1993)] has argued that the area immediately surrounding a prototype is perceptually shrunken, with reduced variance in responding to points in that immediately surrounding area, a magnet effect [Kuhl (1993)]. Empirically, prototype points correspond to the averages of large numbers of utterances. This leads to the hypothesis that prototypes are learned. It is equally possible that prototypes are innate [Kuhl (1993)]. To decide between these two hypotheses an experiment was run with newborns. The vowel /y/ was used in the experiment; /y/ does not occur in Texas. The newborns’ only experience was provided in the experiment. ‘‘Best exemplar’’ was equated with ‘‘most attractive’’ measured by listening time in an operant choice task. Results indicated that experience did not determine preference. The...

Research paper thumbnail of Operant analyses of speech perception in newborns

Infant Behavior and Development, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of Hot spots in the newborn vowel space

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of Preverbal children with autism understand the intentions of others

Developmental …, 2000

There is a`theory of mind' theory of autism. Meltzoff has recently developed a procedure that giv... more There is a`theory of mind' theory of autism. Meltzoff has recently developed a procedure that gives a nonverbal assessment of`theory of mind'. A group of children with autism and a matched control group of normally developing infants were given three of Meltzoff's tasks and three conventional, gestural imitation tasks. The children with autism showed the expected deficits on gestural imitation, but were significantly better than the normally developing infants on the Meltzoff tasks. The implications of these results for a number of theoretical issues are discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Newborn categorization of vowel-like sounds

Developmental Science, 2001

While there are many theories of the development of speech perception, there are few data on spee... more While there are many theories of the development of speech perception, there are few data on speech perception in human newborns. This paper examines the manner in which newborns responded to a set of stimuli that define one surface of the adult vowel space. Experiment 1 used a preferential listeningahabituation paradigm to discover how newborns divide that vowel space. Results indicated that there were zones of high preference flanked by zones of low preference. The zones of high preference approximately corresponded to areas where adults readily identify vowels. Experiment 2 presented newborns with pairs of vowels from the zones found in Experiment 1. One member of each pair was the most preferred vowel from a zone, and the other member was the least preferred vowel from the adjacent zone of low preference. The pattern of preference was preserved in Experiment 2. However, a comparison of Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that habituation had occurred in Experiment 1. Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that the habituation seen in Experiment 1 was due to processes of categorization, by using a familiarization preference paradigm. The results supported the hypothesis that newborns categorized the vowel space in an adult-like manner, with vowels perceived as relatively good or poor exemplars of a vowel category.

Research paper thumbnail of The intermodal representation of speech in newborns

Developmental Science, 1999

It has been proposed that speech is specified by the eye, the ear, and even the skin. Kuhl and Me... more It has been proposed that speech is specified by the eye, the ear, and even the skin. Kuhl and Meltzoff (1984) showed that 4-month-olds could lipread to an extent. Given the age of the infants, it was not clear whether this was a learned skill or a by-product of the primary auditory process. This paper presents evidence that neonate infants (less than 33 h) show virtually identical patterns of intermodal interaction as do 4-month-olds. Since they are neonates, it is unlikely that learning was involved. The results indicate that human speech is specified by both eye and ear at an age when built-in structural sensitivities provide the most plausible explanation.

Research paper thumbnail of Structural and experiential factors in newborns' preference for speech sounds

Developmental Science, 2000

It is well established that newborns prefer some sounds over others. It is widely believed that t... more It is well established that newborns prefer some sounds over others. It is widely believed that these preferences reflect past experience, either prenatally or in the immediate postnatal environment. However, it is also possible that structural factors are involved. The frequency of occurrence of different sounds in the languages of the world may provide evidence of such structural factors. If structural factors are important, and if frequency of occurrence of sounds in the world's languages reflects structural factors, then we might expect newborn preference for sounds to reflect their frequency across languages. In this study, newborns were presented with two cv pairs consisting of a trilled ara and a bunched ara followed by the vowel a¡a. The newborns were either of English-speaking or Spanish-speaking origin. The bunched ara occurs in American English and is not frequent in the languages of the world. It does not occur in Spanish. The trilled ara occurs in Spanish and is a frequent consonant in the languages of the world. It does not occur in American English. Results showed that newborns of both linguistic backgrounds preferred to listen to the trilled ara. It is hypothesized that the frequency of occurrence of a sound in the languages of the world may reflect structurally based ease of production and ease of perception, the latter leading to the newborn preference.