Now you see it, now you don't: Repetition blindness for nonwords.

Repetition blindness (RB) for nonwords has been found in some studies, but not in others. The authors propose that the discrepancy in results is fueled by participant strategy; specifically, when rapid serial visual presentation lists are short and participants are explicitly informed that some trials will contain repetitions, participants are able to use partial orthographic information to correctly guess repetitions on repetition trials while avoiding spurious repetition reports on control trials. The authors first replicated V. Coltheart and R. Langdon's (2003) finding of RB for words but repetition advantage for nonwords (Experiment 1). When all participants were encouraged to utilize partial information in a same/different matching task along with an identification task, a repetition advantage was observed for both words and nonwords (Experiment 2). When guessing of repetitions was made detectable by including non-identical but orthographically similar items in the experiments, the repetition advantage disappeared; instead, RB was found for both words and nonwords (Experiments 3 and 4). Finally, when experiments did not contain any identical items, participants almost never reported repetitions, and reliable RB was found for orthographically similar words and nonwords (Experiments 5 and 6). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sentence context, word recognition, and repetition blindness.

When the sentence She ran her best time yet in the rice last week is displayed using rapid serial visual presentation, viewers sometimes misread rice as race (M. C. Potter, A. Moryadas,1. Abrams, & A. Noel, 1993). Seven experiments combined misreading and repetition blindness (RB) paradigms to determine whether misreading of a word because of biasing sentence context represents a genuine perceptual effect. In Experiments 1-4, misreading a word either caused or prevented RB for a downstream word, depending on whether orthographic similarity was increased or decreased. Additional experiments examined temporal parameters of misreading RB and tested the hypothesis that RB results from reconstructive memory processes. Results suggest that the effect of prior context occurs during perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Le co?t de l'effacement du schwa lors de la reconnaissance des mots en fran?ais.

We studied the processing of two word strings in French made up of a determiner and a noun which contains a schwa (mute e). Depending on the noun, schwa deletion is present, optional or absent. In a production study, we show that schwa deletion, and the category of the noun, have a large impact on the duration of the strings. We take this into account in two perception studies, which use word repetition and lexical decision, and which show that words in which the schwa has been deleted usually take longer to recognize than words that retain the schwa, but that this depends also on the category of the word. We explain these results by examining the influence of orthography. Based on the model proposed by Grainger and Ferrand (1996), which integrates the written dimension, we suggest that two sources of information, phonological and orthographic, interact during spoken word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lexical exposure and word-form encoding in 1.5-year-olds.

In this study, 1.5-year-olds were taught a novel word. Some children were familiarized with the word's phonological form before learning the word's meaning. Fidelity of phonological encoding was tested in a picture-fixation task using correctly pronounced and mispronounced stimuli. Only children with additional exposure in familiarization showed reduced recognition performance given slight mispronunciations relative to correct pronunciations; children with fewer exposures did not. Mathematical modeling of vocabulary exposure indicated that children may hear thousands of words frequently enough for accurate encoding. The results provide evidence compatible with partial failure of phonological encoding at 19 months of age, demonstrate that this limitation in learning does not always hinder word recognition, and show the value of infants' word-form encoding in early lexical development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition Blindness in Rapid Lists: Activation and Inhibition Versus Construction and Attribution.

The authors examine the repetition blindness effect--the failure to report one of the occurrences of a word presented twice in a rapid list. This phenomenon has been ascribed to inhibitory processes that prevent immediate tokenization of the 2nd occurrence of a repeated word. The authors present several kinds of evidence against that account, including observations that repetition blindness (a) does not occur when repetitions are not embedded in a list of familiar orthographic units, (b) is alleviated by precuing the subject with the identity of the word that may repeat within a rapid list, and (c) can be caused by cues presented after the list, when the opportunity for inhibition has passed. It is proposed that repetition blindness can better be understood through the principles of construction and attribution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Masked inhibitory priming in English: Evidence for lexical inhibition.

Predictions derived from the interactive activation (IA) model were tested in 3 experiments using the masked priming technique in the lexical decision task. Experiment 1 showed a strong effect of prime lexicality: Classifications of target words were facilitated by orthographically related nonword primes (relative to unrelated nonword primes) but were inhibited by orthographically related word primes (relative to unrelated word primes). Experiment 2 confirmed IA's prediction that inhibitory priming effects are greater when the prime and target share a neighbor. Experiment 3 showed a minimal effect of target word neighborhood size (N) on inhibitory priming but a trend toward greater inhibition when nonword foils were high-N than when they were low-N. Simulations of 3 different versions of the IA model showed that the best fit to the data is produced when lexical inhibition is selective and when masking leads to reset of letter activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effets de distribution du voisinage orthographique et d'amor?age par répétition masqué.

This research centres on the effect that the orthographic neighbourhood has in the visual recognition of words. Specifically, we studied to what extent orthographic neighbourhood distribution, that is, the number of letter positions allowing formation of at least one neighbour (Pugh, Rexer, Peter, & Katz, 1994), influences the masked repetition priming effect. In a previous study (Mathey, Robert, & Zagar, 2004), interaction between neighbourhood distribution and orthographic priming was obtained in the lexical decision task. The Interactive Activation Model (IA; McClelland & Rumelhart, 1981) simulated this interaction. With the orthographic priming effect modified for distribution of the neighbourhood of target words, it was necessary to study whether the repetition priming effect also varied as a function of this indicator. Studying this interaction presents a major theoretical issue in specifying the activating and inhibiting processes presented in the IA model. Simulations were produced to obtain precise model predictions regard regarding the neighbourhood distribution effect in a repetitive priming situation for our experimental material. Target words all had two neighbours that were most frequent. These neighbours were isolated, that is, distributed over two letter positions (e.g.: TAUX/faux-toux), or associated, i.e., concentrated on one single position (e.g., SEAU/beaupeau). Targets were preceded by an identical priming (repetitive priming; e.g.: seau-SEAU) or by controlled priming (e.g., &&&&-SEAU). The simulation results obtained using the IA model show the facilitating effects of neighbourhood distribution and repetitive priming, but no interaction between these factors. The experimental results obtained in a lexical decision task confirm these predictions. Thus, the empirical data replicate the neighbourhood distribution's facilitating effect (Mathey & Zagar, 2000) as well as the facilitating effect of masked repetition (Forster & Davis, 1984). Finally, the most interesting result is that the facilitating effect of repetition is comparable for target words with associated neighbours and target words with isolated neighbours. An explanation of the combined effects of the orthographic neighbourhood and orthographic masked repetition priming, integrating data from literature as well as from the current study, is proposed within the framework of the IA model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term priming of neighbours biases the word recognition process: Evidence from a lexical decision task.

The role of orthographically similar words (i.e., neighbours) in the word recognition process has been studied extensively using short-term priming paradigms (e.g., Colombo, 1986). Here we demonstrate that long-term effects of neighbour priming can also be obtained. Experiment 1 showed that prior study of a neighbour (e.g., TANGO) increased later lexical decision performance for similar words (e.g., MANGO), but decreased performance for similar pseudowords (e.g., LANGO). Experiment 2 replicated this bias effect and showed that the increase in lexical decision performance due to neighbour priming is selectively due to words from a relatively sparse neighbourhood. Explanations of the bias effect in terms of lexical activation and episodic memory retrieval are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decreasing complexity of affective space in older adults lower on cognitive control: Affective effects in a nonaffective task and with nonaffective stimuli.

Many theoretical accounts predict that as people age, they rely increasingly on affect. At least one account (Dynamic Integration Theory) makes the additional prediction that an accompanying effect of aging is a narrowing of affective space. These predictions were tested in the context of the relatively automatic low-level cognitive process of lexical access (auditory word recognition). Experiment 1 used emotion words and Experiment 2 used nonemotion words. Both experiments provided support for both predictions. Compared to younger adults (ns = 36 and 56), older adults (ns = 36 and 54) showed larger but less complex effects of dimensions of affective connotation. In addition, older adults with more cognitive resources showed a data pattern like that of younger adults, while those with fewer resources did not. Affective effects emerge even in nonaffective contexts. The tight link between affect and cognition is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constraints on computational models of basic processes in reading.

There are numerous reports in the visual word recognition literature that the joint effects of various factors are additive on reaction time. A central claim by D. C. Plaut and J. R. Booth (2000, 2006) is that their parallel distributed processing model simulates additive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency in the context of lexical decision. If correct, this success would have important implications for computational accounts of reading processes. However, the results of further simulations with this model undermine this claim given that the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency yield a nonmonotonic function (underadditivity, additivity, and overadditivity) depending on the size of the stimulus quality effect, whereas skilled readers yield additivity more broadly. The implications of these results both locally and more globally are discussed, and a number of other issues are noted. Additivity of factor effects constitutes a benchmark that computational accounts should strive to meet. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention constraints of semantic activation during visual word recognition.

The reduction of semantic priming following letter search of the prime suggests that semantic activation can be blocked if attention is allocated to the letter level during word processing. Is this true even for the very fast-acting component of semantic activation? To test this, the authors explored semantic priming of lexical decision at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of either 200 or 1000 ms. Following semantic prime processing, priming occurred at both SOAs. In contrast, no priming occurred at the long SOA following letter-level processing. Of greatest interest, at the short SOA there was priming following the less demanding consonant/vowel task but not following the more attention-demanding letter search task. Hence, semantic activation can occur even when attention is directed to the letter level, provided there are sufficient resources to support this activation. The authors conclude that the default setting during word recognition is for fast-acting activation of the semantic system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonword Repetition Priming in Lexical Decision Reverses as a Function of Study Task and Speed Stress.

The authors argue that nonword repetition priming in lexical decision is the net result of 2 opposing processes. First, repeating nonwords in the lexical decision task results in the storage of a memory trace containing the interpretation that the letter string is a nonword; retrieval of this trace leads to an increase in performance for repeated nonwords. Second, nonword repetition results in increased familiarity, making the nonword more "wordlike," leading to a decrease in performance. Consistent with this dual-process account, Experiment 1 showed a facilitatory effect for nonwords studied in a lexical decision task but an inhibitory effect for nonwords studied in a letter-height task. Experiment 2 showed inhibitory nonword repetition priming for participants tested under speed-stress instructions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential age effects for case and hue mixing in visual word recognition.

The authors compare older adults' lexical-decision data with younger adults' data reported in P. Allen, A. F. Smith, et al. (2002). On the basis of their work, it was proposed that consistent-case words would be processed by the faster holistic (magnodominated) stream, but that mixed-case words would be processed by the slower analytic (interblob-dominated or blob-dominated) streams. Hue mixing was predicted to have no effect on consistent-case performance, but mixed-hue/mixed-case words were predicted to be recognized faster than monochrome/mixed-case words. Younger adults showed the predicted results, but older adults did not. These results suggest that holistic central processes are maintained, but that older adults exhibited an analytic decrement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When Words Collide: Facilitation and Interference in the Report of Repeated Words From Rapidly Presented Lists.

Inhibited encoding is the basis of some accounts of repetition blindness--impaired report of the second occurrence of a repeated word in a rapidly presented word sequence. The author presents evidence for the claim that repetition effects arise from constructive processes of perception and memory that occur to some extent after the word sequence has been presented. Unpredictable postlist cues prompted subjects to report either the entire list or just the final word in the list. Repetition impaired the report of the second occurrence of a repeated word under full report but facilitated the report of such items when only the final word had to be reported. The author modulated this dissociation by presenting repeated words in sentences rather than unrelated word lists. The sensitivity of the effects of repetition to postlist cues supports a construction rather than an encoding inhibition account of repetition blindness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lateralized Lexical Decision in Schizophrenia: Hemispheric Specialization and Interhemispheric Lexicality Priming.

Reports of left-hemisphere dysfunction and abnormal interhemispheric transfer in schizophrenia are mixed. The authors used a unified paradigm, the lateralized lexical decision task, to assess hemispheric specialization in word recognition, hemispheric error monitoring, and interhemispheric transfer in male, right-handed participants with schizophrenia (n=34) compared with controls (n=20). Overall, performance and error monitoring were worse in patients. However, patients like controls showed left-hemisphere superiority for lexical processing and right-hemisphere superiority for error monitoring. Only patients showed selective-interhemispheric lexicality priming for accuracy, in which performance improved when the lexical status of target and distractor stimuli presented to each hemifield was congruent. Results suggest that schizophrenia is associated with impaired monitoring and with increased interhemispheric automatic information transfer rather than with changed hemispheric specialization for language or error monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Previewing the neighborhood: The role of orthographic neighbors as parafoveal previews in reading.

In 2 experiments, a boundary technique was used with parafoveal previews that were identical to a target (e.g., sleet), a word orthographic neighbor (sweet), or an orthographically matched nonword (speet). In Experiment 1, low-frequency words in orthographic pairs were targets, and high-frequency words were previews. In Experiment 2, the roles were reversed. In Experiment 1, neighbor words provided as much preview benefit as identical words and greater benefit than nonwords, whereas in Experiment 2, neighbor words provided no greater preview benefit than nonwords. These results indicate that the frequency of a preview influences the extraction of letter information without setting up appreciable competition between previews and targets. This is consistent with a model of word recognition in which early stages largely depend on excitation of letter information, and competition between lexical candidates becomes important only in later stages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the multiple in the multiple read-out model of visual word recognition.

This study provided a test of the multiple criteria concept used for lexical decision, as implemented in J. Grainger and A. M. Jacobs's (1996) multiple read-out model. This account predicts more inhibition (or less facilitation) from a masked neighbor when accuracy is stressed more but more facilitation (or less inhibition) when the speed of responding is emphasized more. The authors tested these predictions by stressing accuracy (Experiment 1) and response speed (Experiment 2). The results of Experiment 1 showed a stronger neighbor-inhibition effect in the stress-on-accuracy condition than in the control condition. The results of Experiment 2 showed facilitation because of the neighbor prime in the stress-on-speed condition relative to the control condition. These results corroborate the multiple criteria account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological effects in visual word recognition: Investigating the impact of feedback activation.

P. M. Pexman, S. J. Lupker, and D. Jared (2001) reported longer response latencies in lexical decision tasks (LDTs) for homophones (e.g., maid) than for nonhomophones, and attributed this homophone effect to orthographic competition created by feedback activation from phonology. In the current study, two predictions of this feedback account were tested: (a) In LDT, observe homophone effects should be observed but not regularity or homograph effects because most exception words (e.g., pint) and homographs (e.g., wind) have different feedback characteristics than homophones do, and (b) in a phonological LDT ("does it sound like a word?"), regularity and homograph effects should be observed but not homophone effects. Both predictions were confirmed. These results support the claim that feedback activation from phonology plays a significant role in visual word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neighborhood effects in reading aloud: New findings and new challenges for computational models.

A word from a dense neighborhood is often read aloud faster than a word from a sparse neighborhood. This advantage is usually attributed to orthography, but orthographic and phonological neighbors are typically confounded. Two experiments investigated the effect of neighborhood density on reading aloud when phonological density was varied while orthographic density was held constant, and vice versa. A phonological neighborhood effect was observed, but not an orthographic one. These results are inconsistent with the predominant role ascribed to orthographic neighbors in accounts of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Consistent with this interpretation, 6 different computational models of reading aloud failed to simulate this pattern of results. The results of the present experiments thus provide a new understanding of some of the processes underlying reading aloud, and new challenges for computational models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)