Danielle Daidone [dæn.ˈjɛl  deɪ.ˈdoʊn​]

Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics
University of North Carolina Wilmington
​
PhD in Second Language Studies and Hispanic Linguistics, Indiana University

LATEST BLOG POSTS

Analyzing free classification results: Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analyses

Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) is a way of determining the placement of each stimulus in space so that the perceptual distances between the stimuli are recreated as closely as possible, with stimuli that were judged to be more similar placed closer together and stimuli judged to be less similar placed further apart.  If you're not familiar with MDS, you may find the explanation on pp. 4-5 of our 2023 SSLA article on free classification to be useful. 

You can perform MDS analyses on any of the matrix outputs from the create_FC_similarity_matrices.Rmd file from the previous blog post using this R Markdown file.  A pdf example using this script to analyze our Finnish length data can be viewed here.

Analyzing free classification results:
​Using an R script to obtain (dis)similarity matrices

To analyze your data with the R script below, you'll need 2 files: 
  • Your Lookup Matrix file, which details which stimulus corresponds to which number on which slide.  How to create this file is explained in the blog post here.  This file should be saved as a tab-separated text file.  The example Lookup Matrix from our Finnish length experiment is available here.
  • Your Coded FC Results file, which codes the results from each participant's free classification PowerPoint task.  How to create this file is explain in the blog post here.  This should also be saved as a tab-separated text file.  Make sure your stimuli are in the same order across contexts, since the R script outputs results in alphabetical order, and the combined contexts results will be inaccurate if the orders are different across contexts.  ​The example Coded FC Results file from our Finnish length experiment is available here.
You'll use this R Markdown file to analyze your results (if you don't have R and RStudio, download those first).  The comments in the script show what you should get if you analyze the example files above.  Don't forget to set your working directory to the file path where your files are located and to change the file names to match your Lookup Matrix and Coded FC Results files.

ABOUT ME

My research focuses on second language phonology, with a particular emphasis on perception and lexical representations. I also work on input in the language classroom, as well as variation in L1 and L2 Spanish.  When I'm not analyzing speech, you can find me dancing or escaping reality with a good book.
​

CONTACT ME
daidoned AT uncw DOT edu

UPDATES

I got a Fulbright US Scholar Award to do research in Spain from January to June 2026!!  I'll be hosted by the University of Barcelona.  I can't wait to work with all the wonderful L2 speech researchers not only at my host university, but across the city!

Check out my latest presentation with Ryan Lidster from New Sounds 2025: Naïve consonant discrimination is better predicted by free classification than perceptual assimilation.

Ryan Lidster and I are also very happy about our new collaboration with researchers at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland on a  ~$20,000 grant to examine the usefulness of free classification for multilingual populations.  We'll be at the Poznań Linguistic Meeting in September! 

If you're interested in beta testing our future HVPT website, funded by a Spencer Foundation Grant, sign up here.  At this point, it looks like we'll have a beta site ready for Fall 2025.