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Retrospective Prime Reliance: A Flexible Retrospective Mechanism for Semantic Priming in Visual Word Recognition
Full text linkRecent evidences (Balota et al., 2008; Thomas et al., 2012) suggest that the cognitive system can retrospectively (i.e., after target presentation) increase its reliance on prime information when target-word recognition is made more difficult by experimental manipulations such as visual degradation. In fact, response time (RT) distributional analyses have shown that for clearly visible target-words the priming effect has the same size in all the portions of the RT distribution. In contrast, for degraded target-words, priming effects increase across the RT distribution, coherently with the idea of an increased reliance on prime information for degraded targets, which would be particularly beneficial for the most difficult responses (i.e., the slowest ones).
The first study (with English-speaking participants), investigated the idea of retrospective prime reliance in the context of an important empirical conundrum within the word recognition literature, produced by the joint effects of stimulus visual quality (SQ), semantic priming and word frequency. The manipulation of these variables, in fact, has traditionally produced constraining results for models of priming (e.g., McNamara, 2005), as well as for visual word recognition models (e.g., Reynolds & Besner, 2004). In Experiment 1, all the three variables have been manipulated within a single speeded pronunciation task, where words and nonwords were randomly appearing as targets. The results indicated that the joint effect of SQ and word frequency on RTs were dependent upon prime relatedness. More specifically, additive effects of SQ and frequency were observed after related primes, while an overadditive interaction was observed after unrelated primes. Distributional analyses showed that this three-way interaction was mediated by slowest RTs and it was hypothesized that the pattern of effects reflects reliance on prime information. To test this hypothesis, in Experiment 2 related primes were eliminated from the list, to produce a context in which there was no reason to rely on prime information. Interactive effects of SQ and frequency found following unrelated primes in Experiment 1 reverted, in Experiment 2, to additive effects for the same unrelated prime conditions. Note that, in English, additive effects of SQ and frequency are found in standard speeded pronunciation tasks (i.e., with no primes), provided that words and nonwords are randomly intermixed in the target set (as was the case in Experiment 2).
In a second study, the same experiments as in the first one were tested within a different priming paradigm, namely in zero-lag repetition priming (e.g., Ferguson et al., 2009) and within a different language (Italian). Although distributional analyses provided preliminary evidences that retrospective prime reliance is operative even in this context (Experiment 3), cross-linguistic differences were nonetheless observed. More specifically, in English SQ and frequency produce additive effects in a speeded pronunciation task, provided that nonword targets are intermixed with real words (O’Malley & Besner, 2008) and provided that primes (if present) are all unrelated (Experiment 2). This finding does not seem to be replicated in Italian, where the two variables still produced, in Experiment 4, an overadditive interaction despite the presence of nonwords in the target-set and despite the fact that only unrelated primes were presented (exactly as in Experiment 2). It was hypothesized the discrepancy might stem from the fact that, while in English the system needs to place a functional threshold at an earlier processing level in order to overcome the detrimental effect of visual degradation before lexical representations get activated (thus avoiding lexicalization errors), in a transparent language this might not be the case. It was thus argued that in Italian it is sufficient to increase the reliance on sublexical output, without qualitatively altering the activation-dynamics of the system.
The third study explored the possibility that retrospective prime reliance entails episodic retrieval. In a first experiment, English-speaking participants first performed a lexical decision task where SQ and semantic priming were manipulated. After completing the lexical decision and a brief distracter-task, they also performed a recognition memory task on primes presented during the lexical decision. Results showed a trend towards better recognition of those primes that preceded degraded targets, as opposed to clearly visible ones. The result is coherent with the hypothesis that, for those primes that preceded degraded targets, episodic retrieval takes place even in lexical decision, thereby facilitating the recognition of these items in a subsequent memory task. In a second experiment (Italian participants), the effect of SQ in the memory task was not replicated, probably due to specific features of the materials used in the experiment. On the other hand, a strong lexicality effect was found in the memory performance: primes that preceded real words were recognized much better compared to those that preceded nonwords in the previous experimental phase. These results suggest that the interplay between primes and targets, and the cognitive operations required to process them in lexical decision may reflect into the memory traces left by these stimuli.
In conclusion, retrospective prime reliance proved to be a useful theoretical tool to understand the joint effect of semantic priming, SQ, and frequency, thereby proposing a new perspective on this issue. Moreover, preliminary evidences suggest that a retrospective component might be involved even in a zero-lag repetition priming paradigm and that the mechanism beside retrospective reliance might entail the episodic retrieval of the prime’s representation. Most importantly, the results highlight the flexibility and the sensitivity of the reading system to the context (i.e., experimental task, characteristics of the stimuli)
Prime relevance is a critical factor for lexical contribution to letter level processing.
No full textWhen nonwords are intermixed with words in reading aloud, stimulus quality (SQ) and frequency exert additive effects. This pattern suggests that interactive activation between the letter level and the orthographic lexicon is strategically prevented to avoid lexical capture (O‘Malley & Besner, 2008). However, when a semantic priming paradigm is applied in lexical decision, frequency interacts with SQ for unrelated trials (Borowsky & Besner 1993). The aim of the present research is to asses the role of prime relevance in this effect. In Experiment 1, frequency, SQ and prime relatedness (repeated vs. unrelated) were manipulated in a reading task with words and nonwords. Interactive effects of frequency and SQ were observed. In Experiment 2 only unrelated primes were used, and additive effects of frequency and SQ were found. These results suggest that the presence of related primes plays a critical role in the regulation of activation dynamics in target processing
Are all letters really processed equally and in parallel? Further evidence of a robust first letter advantage
Full text linkThis present study examined accuracy and response latency of letter processing as a function of position within a horizontal array. In a series of 4 Experiments, target-strings were briefly (33. ms for Experiments 1 to 3, 83. ms for Experiment 4) displayed and both forward and backward masked. Participants then made a two alternative forced choice. The two alternative responses differed just in one element of the string, and position of mismatch was systematically manipulated. In Experiment 1, words of different lengths (from 3 to 6 letters) were presented in separate blocks. Across different lengths, there was a robust advantage in performance when the alternative response was different for the letter occurring at the first position, compared to when the difference occurred at any other position. Experiment 2 replicated this finding with the same materials used in Experiment 1, but with words of different lengths randomly intermixed within blocks. Experiment 3 provided evidence of the first position advantage with legal nonwords and strings of consonants, but did not provide any first position advantage for non-alphabetic symbols. The lack of a first position advantage for symbols was replicated in Experiment 4, where target-strings were displayed for a longer duration (83. ms). Taken together these results suggest that the first position advantage is a phenomenon that occurs specifically and selectively for letters, independent of lexical constraints. We argue that the results are consistent with models that assume a processing advantage for coding letters in the first position, and are inconsistent with the commonly held assumption in visual word recognition models that letters are equally processed in parallel independent of letter position. © 2013 Elsevier B.V
Distributional analyses in the picture-word interference paradigm: Exploring the semantic interference and the distractor frequency effects.
Full text linkhe present study explores the distributional features of two important effects within the picture-word interference paradigm: the semantic interference and the distractor frequency effects. These two effects display different and specific distributional profiles. Semantic interference appears greatly reduced in faster response times, while it reaches its full magnitude only in slower responses. This can be interpreted as a sign of fluctuant attentional efficiency in resolving response conflict. In contrast, the distractor frequency effect is mediated mainly by a distributional shift, with low frequency distractors uniformly shifting reaction times distribution towards a slower range of latencies. This finding fits with the idea that distractor frequency exerts its effect by modulating the point in time in which operations required to discard the distractor can start. Taken together, these results are congruent with current theoretical accounts of both the semantic interference and distractor frequency effects. Critically, distributional analyses highlight and further describe the different cognitive dynamics underlying these two effects, suggesting that this analytical tool is able to offer important insights about lexical access during speech productio
Language and motor processing in reading and typing: Insights from beta-frequency band power modulations
Full text linkPower modulations of the EEG activity within the beta-frequency band were investigated across silent-readingand copy-typing tasks featuring emotionally negative and neutral words in order to clarify the interplay betweenlanguage and motor processing. In reading, a single desynchronization surfaced 200–600 ms after target pre-sentation, with a stronger power-decrease in lower beta frequencies for neutral compared to negative words. Thetyping task revealed two distinct desynchronizations. Afirst one surfaced within spatio-temporal coordinatesclosely resembling those of the desynchronization observed in the reading task, thus pointing towards a commonorigin at the level of linguistic processing of the input word stimuli. Additionally, a second motor-related de-synchronization surfaced during the typed response, from 700 to 2000 ms after stimulus onset. Here, words’emotional connotation affected the higher beta band. The comparison between tasks thus suggests that differentbeta desynchronizations reflect distinct EEG landmarks for language and motor processing. Further, the effect ofemotional connotation on the motor-related desynchronization of the typing task suggests that language pro-cessing can propagate its influence onto the stage of motor response execution, pointing against a serialflow ofinformation from language onto motor processing
Priming semantico e modulazione degli effetti di frequenza delle parole e qualità visiva degli stimoli.
No full textIn un compito di decisione lessicale, le variabili di frequenza delle parole e qualità visiva degli stimoli (SQ) mostrano effetti additivi per parole semanticamente relate ai primes ed effetti interattivi per parole non relate. Scopo di questo studio è valutare come la presenza di primes semantici possa modulare gli effetti di SQ e frequenza a livello locale (trials con primes semanticamente relati vs. non relati) e globale (presenza vs. assenza di primes semantici nella lista sperimentale).
In due esperimenti (N = 64 studenti), i partecipanti hanno svolto un compito di lettura di parole e non parole. Le variabili di relazione semantica SQ e frequenza sono state manipolate fattorialmente all’interno dei partecipanti. Nel primo esperimento, è stata manipolata la relazione semantica tra primes e target (relati vs non relati). Nel secondo esperimento, i targets sono presentati preceduti unicamnete da primes non relati. Primes e targets ad alta e bassa frequenza sono stati bilanciati per forza associativa, vicinato ortografico e fonologico, frequenza dei bigrammi. Gli effetti dei fattori sono stati valutati tramite analisi della varianza, le caratteristiche distribuzionali dell’effetto di frequenza tramite bin-analysis dei tempi di risposta.
Nel primo esperimento, frequenza e SQ hanno effetti additivi nei trials con prime semanticamente relati ed effetti interattivi nei trials con primes non relati. L’interazione si rileva nei tempi di risposta più lenti. Nel secondo esperimento (solo primes non relati) gli effetti di frequenza e SQ sono additivi.
I risultati mostrano come la presenza di primes semantici moduli gli effetti di frequenza e SQ a livello di singolo trial (esperimento 1: trials relati vs trials non relati) ed a livello globale (trials non relati nell’esperimento 1 vs esperimento 2). Tali effetti contestuali suggeriscono che il sistema cognitivo possa utilizzare diversamente i primes in funzione del loro valore informativo per lo svolgimento del compito
Exploring the additive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency: the influence of local and list-wide prime relatedness
Full text linkStimulus quality and word frequency produce additive effects in lexical decision performance, whereas the semantic priming effect interacts with both stimulus quality and word frequency effects. This pattern places important constraints on models of visual word recognition. In Experiment 1, all three variables were investigated within a single speeded pronunciation study. The results indicated that the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency were dependent upon prime relatedness. In particular, an additive effect of stimulus quality and word frequency was found after related primes, and an interactive effect was found after unrelated primes. It was hypothesized that this pattern reflects an adaptive reliance on related prime information within the experimental context. In Experiment 2, related primes were eliminated from the list, and the interactive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency found following unrelated primes in Experiment 1 reverted to additive effects for the same unrelated prime conditions. The results are supportive of a flexible lexical processor that adapts to both local prime information and global list-wide context
Analisi distribuzionali nel paradigma di interferenza figura-parola.
No full textGli effetti di interferenza semantica e di frequenza del distrattore, evidenziati dal paradigma di interferenza figura-parola, hanno ricevuto grande attenzione nell’ambito degli studi sulla produzione linguistica. Le caratteristiche distribuzionali di questi effetti, tuttavia, risultano ad oggi poco note. Scopo del presente lavoro è dunque quello di investigare i profili distribuzionali dei due effetti e di evidenziarne eventuali differenze.
Sono stati condotti 2 esperimenti (N = 48), utilizzando il classico paradigma di interferenza figura-parola. In entrambi gli esperimenti è stato utilizzato il medesimo gruppo di 60 figure target. Nell’ Esperimento 1, è stata manipolata la frequenza delle parole usate come distrattore. Parole ad alta e bassa frequenza erano comparabili in termini di lunghezza, numero di fonemi, età di acquisizione, frequenza dei bigrammi, vicinato ortografico, concretezza ed immaginabilità. Nell’Esperimento 2, è stata manipolata la relazione semantica tra le figure e le parole usate come distrattori (lo stesso gruppo di 60 parole è stato utilizzato per comporre abbinamenti figura-parola semanticamente relati e non). I tempi di reazione (TR) sono stati analizzati tramite bin-analysis e tramite la stima dei parametri della distribuzione ex-gaussiana. L’effetto di frequenza del distrattore risulta influenzare particolarmente la componente gaussiana della distribuzione (il parametro μ): l’effetto, infatti, risulta di dimensioni stabili in tutto l’arco della distribuzione dei TR, compresi i TR più veloci. Diversamente, la componente esponenziale della distribuzione (il parametro τ) appare più sensibile all’effetto di interferenza semantica. L’effetto, di dimensioni modeste nelle risposte più veloci, appare amplificato nei quantili più lenti della distribuzione dei TR.
I risultati sembrano evidenziare due diversi loci per le due forme di interferenza. Le implicazioni teoriche sono discusse nei termini dei più influenti modelli di produzione linguistica
Effetto Simon con cue biologici e lingua dei segni.
No full textFin dai 12 mesi di età, i bambini utilizzano un preciso gesto manuale per indirizzare l’attenzione degli interlocutori, protendendo la mano con l’indice esteso verso l’oggetto di interesse (pointing). Questo stimolo mostra negli adulti la capacità stabilire una codifica spaziale e di elicitare spostamenti dell’attenzione, anche in situazioni in cui appaia come distrattore ed i partecipanti siano istruiti ad ignorarlo. Nella presente ricerca, abbiamo indagato questo fenomeno in persone non udenti parlanti la Lingua dei Italiana dei Segni, utilizzando una variante dell’effetto Simon.
Abbiamo comparato la capacità di diversi tipi di cue spaziali di elicitare effetti di congruenza di risposta, in 32 partecipanti udenti (26 femmine, età media = 22.97, SD = 1.66) e in 32 non udenti (14 femmine, età media = 18.03, SD = 2.02), parlanti LIS. La procedura sperimentale prevedeva la presentazione di un rettangolino colorato (target) al centro dello schermo, sovrapposto ad un distrattore (cue spaziale). I partecipanti erano istruiti a rispondere sulla base del colore del target (rosso o verde), premendo un tasto alla loro sinistra (sx) o alla loro destra (dx) e ad ignorare il distrattore. I cue spaziali potevano essere frecce, mani in configurazione di pointing, oppure volti Frecce, mani e lo sguardo dei volti potevano essere orientati verso sx o verso dx.
Nei tempi di reazione, i partecipanti udenti hanno mostrato effetti di congruenza spaziale tra risposta e distrattore per tutti i tipi di cue, con risposte più lente nelle prove in cui il cue era orientato nella direzione opposta alla risposta. L’effetto è risultato maggiore per le frecce. Diversamente, i partecipanti non udenti hanno evidenziato effetti comparabili per frecce e sguardo, ma nessun effetto quando il cue spaziale era rappresentato da una mano in configurazione di pointing.
I risultati suggeriscono che l’uso di segni linguistici formalizzati sovrascriva o annulli l’effetto pervasivo del gesto di pointing
Effect of the consonant–vowel structure of written words in Italian
Full text linkSurprisingly little is known about the nature of intermediary sublexical units in visual word recognition in Italian, a language with a highly consistent print-to-sound mapping, which should enhance reliance on grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences. In the present study, we examined whether Italian readers are sensitive to large orthographic units defined by the consonant-vowel (CV) pattern of words and that do not directly map onto linguistic constituents. Participants had to judge the number of syllables in written words matched for the number of spoken syllables but comprising either one orthographic vowel cluster less than the number of syllables (hiatus words, e.g., teatro) or as many vowel clusters as syllables (e.g., agosto). Relative to control words, readers were slower and less accurate for hiatus words, for which they underestimated the number of syllables. This underestimation bias demonstrates that Italian readers are sensitive to large orthographic units stemming from a parsing process based on the CV pattern-that is, the arrangement of consonant and vowel letters
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