Selective adaptation effects in infant speech perception paradigms

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Abstract
When the growth of adaptation was examined by presenting human adult listeners with successive blocks of 20 repeating stimuli, reliable adaptation effects were observed after only 80 stimulus presentations. Recovery following adaptation was relatively rapid and complete by the end of a postadaptation identification sequence. Experiment 2 constituted a more direct investigation of the possible role of adaptation in infant speech perception in which actual protocols from heart-rate (HR) and non-nutritive high-amplitude sucking (HAS) infant testing sessions were presented to adult listeners. Reliable adaptation effects were obtained within the HAS protocol, but not within the HR format. This pattern of results was consistent with that observed in the previous experiment. The implications of these adult adaptation results for the processes underlying the infant''s responsiveness to these stimuli were discussed.

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