Representational specificity of within‐category phonetic variation in the mental lexicon

This study examines (1) whether within‐category phonetic variation in voice onset time (VOT) is encoded in long‐term memory and has consequences for subsequent word recognition and, if so, (2) whether such effects are greater in words with voiced counterparts (pat/bat) than those without (cow/*gow), given that VOT information is more critical for lexical discrimination in the former. Two long‐term repetition priming experiments were conducted using words containing word‐initial voiceless stops varying in VOT. Reaction times to a lexical decision were compared between the same and different VOT conditions in words with or without voiced counterparts. If veridical representations of each episode are preserved in memory, variation in VOT should have demonstrable effects on the magnitude of priming. However, if within‐category variation is discarded and form‐based representations are abstract, the variation in VOT should not mediate priming. The implications of these results for the specificity and abstractne...