According to Saffran et al. (1996), which of the following is true?
A) At 8 months of age, babies show sensitivity to transitional probabilities in their own language, but not one they are unfamiliar with.
B) Transitional probabilities help babies to group syllables into word-like units in the absence of any other cues.
C) Transitional probabilities are useful for identifying the most frequent words but not for predicting which syllables are likely to occur together.
D) Transitional probabilities become uninformative when combined with other cues, such as phonotactic information.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to Saffran et al. (1996), transitional probabilities help babies to group syllables into word-like units in the absence of any other cues. Choice A is incorrect because the study found that babies showed sensitivity to transitional probabilities in both known and unknown languages. Choice C is incorrect because the study found that transitional probabilities are useful for predicting which syllables are likely to occur together, not just identifying the most frequent words. Choice D is incorrect because the study did not investigate the combination of transitional probabilities with other cues like phonotactic information.

According to Saffran Et Al