Sumner, Allie2024-08-222024-08-222024-06https://hdl.handle.net/11299/265103University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. June 2024. Major: Speech-Language Pathology. Advisor: Benjamin Munson. 1 computer file (PDF); iv, 30 pages.Introduction: Previous studies have shown that children’s epistemic trust has an impact on object label learning (Koenig & Harris, 2005), and that children and adults spontaneously imitate phonetic detail in speech they hear (Nielsen, 2014). Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to determine if epistemic trust has an impact on children’s phonetic imitation, and if that impact follows the same patterns as object label learning and phonetic imitation by exposure. Methods: This experiment consisted of 5 parts, the baseline recording, familiarization trials, test trials, exposure phase, and post-exposure recording. The baseline VOT of a set of /p/ and /k/ initial words was measured before participants were exposed to two speakers, one who accurately labeled objects and one who did not. Participants were then asked to endorse one of the speakers as being knowledgeable over the other before they were exposed to either the reliable or unreliable speaker reciting the list of target words with either a lengthened or un-lengthened VOT. Post-exposure VOT was then measured. Results: 48 children were included in the analysis of pre- and post-exposure VOT. While the interaction between epistemic trust and phonetic imitation was not statistically significant, there was a significant four-way interaction between age, exposure phase, reliability of speaker, and modified or unmodified VOT. Conclusion: Phonetic imitation is not straightforward, and further research is needed to determine which factors play a role in a speaker's degree of phonetic imitation. It is possible that phonetic imitation is a more automatic process that is highly dependent upon task design and is not as easily influenced by a factor like epistemic trust.enepistemic trustobject label learningPhonetic ImitationVOT imitationThesis or Dissertation