When words compete: Levels of processing in perception of spoken words

Current theories of spoken-word recognition posit two levels of representat ion and process: lexical and sublexical. By manipulating probabilistic phon otactics and similarity-neighborhood density, we attempted to determine if these two levels of representation have dissociable effects on processing. Whereas probabilistic phonotactics have been associated with facilitatory e ffects on recognition, increases in similarity-neighborhood density typical ly result in inhibitory effects on recognition arising from lexical competi tion. Our. results demonstrated that when the lexical level is invoked usin g real words, competitive effects of neighborhood density are observed. How ever, when strong lexical effects are removed by the use of nonsense word s timuli, facilitatory effects of phonotactics emerge. These results are cons istent willi a two-level framework of process and representation embodied i n certain current models of spoken-word recognition.