NONWORD PRONUNCIATION AND MODELS OF WORD RECOGNITION

Nonword pronunciation is a form of generalization behavior that has be en at the center of debates about models of word recognition, the role of rules in explaining behavior, and the adequacy of the parallel dis tributed processing approach. An experiment yielded data concerning th e pronunciation of a large corpus of nonwords. The data were then used to assess 2 models of naming: a model developed by D. C. Plaut and J. L. McClelland (1993), which is similar to the one described by M. S. Seidenberg and J. L. McClelland (1989) but uses improved orthographic and phonological representations, and the grapheme-phoneme corresponde nce rules of M. Coltheart, B. Curtis, P. Atkins, and M. Haller's (1993 ) dual-route model. Both models generate plausible nonword pronunciati ons and match subjects' responses accurately. The dual-route model doe s so by using rules that generate correct output for most words but mi spronounce a significant number of exceptions. The parallel distribute d processing model does so by finding a set of weights that allow it t o generate correct output for both ''rule-governed'' items and excepti ons. Some ways in which the two approaches differ and other issues fac ing them are also discussed.