A Researcher Creates a Series of Synthetic Speech Sounds Gradually

Multiple Choice

A researcher creates a series of synthetic speech sounds gradually ranging, in uniformly small steps, from a "ta" sound at one extreme to a "da" sound at the other extreme. Participants are asked to identify each of these sounds. The researcher should expect to find that

A) as the sounds gradually shift from "ta" to "da," participants' pattern of responding gradually shifts from "ta" to "da."
B) participants identify sounds close to "ta" as "ta" and identify sounds close to "da" as "da," but they are unable to identify the sounds midway between the two.
C) participants' identification of the sounds midway between a standard "ta" and a standard "da" are heavily influenced by the identity of the sound they heard just previously.
D) participants' perceptions of the sounds show an abrupt transition, with all of the sounds closer to "ta" clearly identified as "ta" and all of the sounds closer to "da" clearly identified as "da."