Contextual effects in recognizing reduced words in spontaneous speech

This study investigates the effects of context on recognizing reduced word forms in spontaneous speech. Sixteen high-frequency disyllabic targets, eight disyllabic and eight combinations of monosyllabic words are presented to 48 subjects in a spoken word recognition experiment in three conditions: in their original context, in isolation, and embedded in a carrier sentence. Results show that context, degree of reduction, word unit type, gender, and age group all show an effect on the accuracy rates of recognizing the target items. Most interestingly, while a meaningful context helps recognize reduced word forms, a less meaningful context inhibits the recognition more than no context.