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The present investigation addresses the possible utility of sequential probabilities in the segmentation of spoken language. In a series of five word-spotting and two control lexical decision experiments, high-versus low-probability consonant-vowel (Experiments 1, 2, 5, and 7) and vowel-consonant (Experiments 1, 3, 4, and 6) strings were presented either in the nonsense contexts of target words (Experiments 1-3) or within the target words themselves (Experiments 4-7). The results suggest that listeners, at least for sequences in the onset position, indeed use sequential probabilities as cues for segmentation. The probability of a sound sequence influenced segmentation more when the sequence occurred within the target words (Experiments 4-7 vs. Experiments 1-3). Furthermore, the effects were reliable only when the sequences occurred in the onset position (Experiments 1, 2, 5, and 7 vs. Experiments 1, 3, 4, and 6).

Cigarette smoking and other addictive behaviors are among the main preventable risk factors for several severe and potentially fatal diseases. It has been argued that addictive behavior is controlled by an automatic-implicit cognitive system and by a reflective-explicit cognitive system, that operate in parallel to jointly drive human behavior. The present study addresses the formation of implicit attitudes towards smoking in both smokers and non-smokers, using a Go/NoGo association task (GNAT), and behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures. The GNAT assesses, via quantifying participants’ reaction times, the strength of association between a target category and either pole of an evaluative dimension (positive or negative). EEG analysis is performed to determine the temporal course of the event-related potential (ERP) components underlying Go/NoGo decisions and implicit attitude formation. Both smokers and non-smokers showed prolonged reaction times to smoking-related pictures when the pictures were coupled with positive evaluative words (“incongruent condition”). This indicates negative implicit attitudes towards smoking in both groups alike at the time point of the behavioral response (600–700 ms post-stimulus). However, only the non-smokers, not the smokers, were found to show a delay of the N200 component in the incongruent condition. This is interpreted as reflecting ambivalent or even positive implicit attitudes towards smoking in the smoker group at the time point of the N200 (300–400 ms post-stimulus). Our study thus provides evidence for the hypothesis that implicit attitudes are subject to changes within several hundred milliseconds after stimulus presentation, and can be altered in the course of their formation.