Data for: Linguists Are Brilliant, But Psycholinguists Should Be Wary of Shiny Linguistic Units

The current study has empirical, methodological, and theoretical components. It draws heavily on two recent papers: Bowers et al. (2016) (JML, 87, 71-83) used results from selective adaptation experiments to argue that phonemes play a critical role in speech perception. Mitterer et al. (2018) (JML, 98, 77-92) responded with their own adaptation experiments to advocate instead for allophones. These studies are part of a renewed use of the selective adaptation paradigm. Empirically, the current study reports results that demonstrate that the Bowers et al. findings were artifactual. Methodologically, the renewed use of adaptation in the field is a positive development, but many recent studies suffer from a lack of knowledge of prior adaptation findings. As the use of selective adaptation grows, it will be important to draw on the considerable existing knowledge base (this literature is also relevant to the currently popular research on phonetic recalibration). Theoretically, for a half century there has been a recurring effort to demonstrate the psychological reality of various linguistic units, such as the phoneme or the allophone. The evidence is that listeners will use essentially any pattern that has been experienced often enough, not just the units that are well-suited to linguistic descriptions of language. Thus, rather than trying to identify any special perceptual status for linguistic units, psycholinguists should focus their efforts on more productive issues.

本研究涵盖实证、方法论与理论三大研究维度，大量借鉴了两篇近年发表的学术论文：Bowers等人（2016）发表于《记忆与语言期刊》（Journal of Memory and Language，简称JML）第87卷第71-83页的研究，通过选择性适应实验结果论证了音位（phoneme）在言语感知中的关键作用；Mitterer等人（2018）发表于同期刊第98卷第77-92页的研究则通过自身的适应性实验作出回应，转而主张同位音（allophone）的核心地位。上述两项研究属于选择性适应范式的复兴应用范畴。

实证层面，本研究报告的实验结果表明，Bowers等人的研究结论实为人为假象。方法论层面，学界对适应性实验范式的复兴应用是一项积极进展，但近期诸多相关研究却缺乏对既往适应性研究成果的系统认知。随着选择性适应研究的应用愈发广泛，借鉴已积累的大量现有研究知识库将至关重要——该研究领域同样与当前热门的语音重校准（phonetic recalibration）研究密切相关。

理论层面，半个世纪以来，学界始终反复尝试论证音位、同位音等各类语言单位的心理实在性。现有证据表明，听众实际上会利用任何足够频繁地被体验过的感知模式，而非仅局限于语言的语言学描述中所界定的单位。因此，心理语言学家不应再试图为各类语言单位赋予特殊的知觉地位，而应将研究重心转向更具学术价值的研究方向。