COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 8, 263-289 (1976) Preliminaries to a Distinctive Feature Analysis of Handshapes in American Sign Language HARLAN LANE Northeastern University PENNY BOYES-BRAEM University of California, Berkeley URSULA BELLUGI Salk Institute In this article we propose a set of 11 distinctive features for hand configurations (Dez) in the American Sign Language of the deaf. The model is based on the results of applying clustering and scaling analyses to confusion matrices for Dez identifications in visual noise. These matrices were obtained in much the same way as in Miller and Nicely’s classic study of consonant perception in noise. The descriptive adequacy of the model is evaluated in several ways: The level of the node in the distinctive feature tree that dominates each pair of Dez is correlated with the confusion frequency of that pair (r = 0.6); The percentage of correct proximity predictions when the Dez are clustered according to the feature tree (77%) is compared with that obtained with the optimal empirical tree (77%); Shared feature assignments for each Dez pair are weighted according to various strategies, and the 11features are correlated jointly with the confusion fre- quencies of the Dez pairs (R = .68). Finally, the predictive validity of the model is examined, bringing to bear data on the rated similarity, recall, and variants of signs, and on “slips of the hand.” American Sign Language (ASL) is the manual-visual language used by deaf communities in the United States since the early 19th century. The language is acquired by deaf (and some hearing) children of deaf parents, much as spoken languages are acquired by hearing children. ASL has This research was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant No. GS- 42927X; and by National Institute of Health Grant No. NS-0981 I to The Salk Institute for Biological Studies. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Bonnie Gough, Shan Mow, Dr. Susan Fischer, Frank A. Paul, and Mary Beeson of Dr. Bellugi’s Laboratory with which Boyes-Braem was affiliated during this project. We also received invaluable assis- tance from Peter Bell, Dr. Lynn Cooper, James Cunningham, Dr. Roy D’Andrade, Arthur Graesser, Dr. Edward Klima, Patrick Murray, Dr. Lowell Rosen, and Dr. Sanford Schane of the University of California, San Diego, where Lane was a visiting professor during this project, and from Dr. Phipps Arabie of the University of Minnesota. Frank A. Paul drew the sketches in this article. This research was conducted as partial fulfillment of the doctoral thesis requirements of Boyes-Braem at the University of California, Berkeley; Dr. Dan I. Slobin, thesis advisor. Requests for reprints should be sent to Harlan Lane, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115. 263 Copyright 0 1976 by Academic Press. Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved