Eimas and Corbit (1973) did an experiment in which they presented listeners with sounds in which the voicing varied from 0 ms up to 80 ms for "ta" and "da." At 0 ms, listeners heard the sound as "da," and at 80 ms, listeners heard the sound as "ta." Eimas and Corbit were interested in what listeners would hear when intermediate voicings were presented (e.g., 20-, 40-, and 60-ms voice-onset times).They found that listeners ______.
A)continued to hear whatever sound that they heard first
B)reported that the intermediate voicings sounded like "ga"
C)switched from hearing one sound to the other at around 35-ms voice-onset time
D)were inconsistent about whether they heard "ta" or "da" between 40-ms and 55-ms voice onset time

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eimas and Corbit found that listeners switched from hearing one sound (either "ta" or "da") to the other at around 35-ms voice-onset time. This suggests that there is a categorical perception of speech sounds, where small differences in acoustic properties can lead to a switch in perceived phoneme category. The other options, A, B, and D, are not supported by the findings of the study.

Eimas and Corbit (1973) Did an Experiment in Which They