associative solution is that it assumes a central representation of the invariant units in.
long term memory. This representation must be such that it can be used in most of the.
situations that present themselves to perceivers. Figure 1 illustrates the associative.
process.
Fig 1 about here (Leeper, 1935).
no caption.
This example illustrates the principle in visual terms. Most people with normal vision.
cannot interpret the pattern of black patches as something meaningful until they are given.
a clue, in this case via language, as to how they should associate the pattern with.
something stored in their long term memory. The title of the picture is -A Boy and His.
Dog-. Given this semantic information, the perceiver is able to use a host of visual.
representations of these common, linguistically meaningful units (the words -boy- and.
-dog-) to recognize the pattern in figure 1. There is assumed to be some kind of.
comparative operation behind this associative process. That is, the perceiver compares.
the incoming information with the representations stored in the long term memory. By.
the same token, a sound wave, produced by the human vocal apparatus and carrying a.
linguistic message, is decoded, according to this theoretical approach, by the recognition.
of acoustic cues which are compared or associated with the linguistic units the talker.
intended to transmit to the listener.
The associative principle has not, however, solved the problem of perceptual invariance.
in the comprehension of human speech. It has repeatedly been observed that no acoustic.
cues can be invariantly associated with specific linguistic units. But we understand each.
other anyway. This variation in the articulatory and resulting acoustic manifestation of.
spoken language has been a central problem in phonetic and phonological theory for most.
of this century.
The Phoneme and its perception.
The development of linguistic theory during this century and particularly that branch of.