Three kinds of rhymes: An ERP study

In a simple prime-target visual rhyming paradigm, pairs of words, nonwords, and single letters elicited similar event-related potential (ERP) rhyming effects in young adults. Within each condition, primes elicited contingent negative variation (CNV) while nonrhyming targets elicited more negative waveforms than rhyming targets within the 320-500ms (N400/N450) time window. The target rhyming effect, apparently primarily an index of phonological processing, was similar across conditions but tended to be smaller in mean amplitude for letters. One of the first reports of such a letter rhyming effect in the ERP literature, these findings could be important developmentally because letter rhyme tasks simultaneously index the two best predictors of ease of learning to read: letter name knowledge and phonological awareness.     

A developmental investigation of ERP auditory rhyming effects

In a simple auditory rhyming paradigm requiring a button–press response (rhyme/nonrhyme) to the second word (target) of each spoken stimulus pair, both the early (P50, N120, P200, N240) and late (CNV, N400, P300) components of the ERP waveform evidenced considerable change from middle childhood to adulthood. In addition, behavioral accuracy and reaction time improved with increasing age. In contrast, the size, distribution and latency of each of several rhyming effects (including the posterior N400 rhyming effect, a left hemisphere anterior rhyming effect, and early rhyming effects on P50 latency, N120 latency and P200 amplitude) remained constant from age 7 to adulthood. These results indicate that the neurocognitive networks involved in processing auditory rhyme information, as indexed by the present task, are well established and have an adult–like organization at least by the age of 7.     

Event-related potentials and the interaction between orthographic and phonological information in a rhyme-judgment task

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from one midline and three pairs of lateral electrodes in three experiments involving a rhyme-judgment task. Experiment 1 employed sequentially presented word pairs consisting of orthographically similar and dissimilar rhyming and nonrhyming items (RUNG-SUNG, MAKE-ACHE, BEAD-DEAD, GIFT-ROAD). Comparison of the ERPs elicited by the dissimilar pairs revealed a rhyme/nonrhyme difference in the form of an increase in the amplitude of a late negative component (N450) for nonrhyming pairs; this effect was confined almost entirely to right-hemisphere electrodes. By contrast, rhyme/nonrhyme differences in the ERPs to orthographically similar word pairs were smaller in magnitude, later in onset, and bilaterally distributed. Experiment 2 showed that this pattern of ERP effects with orthographically similar items depended upon orthographic and not visual similarity. Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that the lack of a right-hemisphere based N450 effect with orthographically similar items resulted from the operation of an orthographic priming mechanism. ERPs to nonrhyming pairs containing a word with an inconsistent segment (COAST-FROST) were compared with visually matched controls (SPARSE-CREASE). The rhyme/nonrhyme differences in the N450 components from these two conditions were indistinguishable, although subjects found it as difficult to make nonrhyme responses to "COAST-FROST" pairs as to the orthographically similar nonrhyming items in Experiment 1. It was concluded that while "orthographic priming" accounted for the behavioral data from these experiments, it could not explain the interaction between phonology and orthography observed in the concurrently recorded ERP data.     

Young children's phonological sensitivity after exposure to a rhyming or nonrhyming story.

This study examined the ability of preschool children to make phonological discriminations after hearing rhyming or nonrhyming versions of the same story. Participants first listened to either a rhyming or nonrhyming version of a story, Rainy Day Kate (Blegvad, 1987), then attempted a phonological deletion and a rhyme/alliteration detection task. In accordance with prior theoretical notions that listening to rhyme sensitizes young children to phonological properties of words, children who heard the rhyming version of the story showed significantly higher performance on the rhyme/alliteration task than did participants who heard the nonrhyming narrative. Children in the rhyme condition also offered more rhyming and clang (nonword but phonologically similar) associates in completing the phonological deletion task.     

Young Children's Phonological Sensitivity After Exposure to a Rhyming or Nonrhyming Story

This study examined the ability of preschool children to make phonological discriminations after hearing rhyming or nonrhyming versions of the same story. Participants first listened to either a rhyming or nonrhyming version of a story, Rainy Day Kate (Blegvad, 1987), then attempted a phonological deletion and a rhyme/alliteration detection task. In accordance with prior theoretical notions that listening to rhyme sensitizes young children to phonological properties of words, children who heard the rhyming version of the story showed significantly higher performance on the rhyme/alliteration task than did participants who heard the nonrhyming narrative. Children in the rhyme condition also offered more rhyming and clang (nonword but phonologically similar) associates in completing the phonological deletion task.     

Event-related potentials in phonological matching tasks

Two experiments investigated Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) in matching tasks. In Experiment 1 subjects judged, in separate conditions, whether two words rhymed or were written in the same case. The CNV developing between the two words was larger in the latter task compared to the former at the right temporal site. In the rhyme judgment task, an increased late negativity differentiated the ERPs to nonrhyming words from those that rhymed with the previously presented word. This difference was maximal at the midline and over the right hemisphere. Experiment 2 further investigated ERPs in the rhyme judgment task, increasing memory demands with an extended interstimulus interval (ISI) and varying the number of items subjects had to hold in memory during this period (one vs. three). Irrespective of memory load, CNVs during the ISI were more negative from the left hemisphere, and the ERPs to the rhyming and nonrhyming words showed the same differences as in Experiment 1. The CNV asymmetries are interpreted as being associated with the engagement of lateralized short-term memory processes. The rhyme/nonrhyme differences are possibly related to the “N400” component elicited by semantically incongruous words. Possible reasons for their scalp distribution are discussed.     

Effects of rhyme and spelling patterns on auditory word ERPs depend on selective attention to phonology

ERP responses to spoken words are sensitive to both rhyming effects and effects of associated spelling patterns. Are such effects automatically elicited by spoken words or dependent on selectively attending to phonology? To address this question, ERP responses to spoken word pairs were investigated under two equally demanding listening tasks that directed selective attention either to sub-syllabic phonology (i.e., rhyme judgments) or to melodies embedded within the words. ERPs elicited when participants selectively attended to phonology demonstrated a rhyming effect that was concurrent with online stimulus encoding and an orthographic effect that emerged later. ERP responses to the same stimuli presented under melodic focus, however, showed no evidence of sensitivity to rhyme or spelling patterns. Results reveal limitations to the automaticity of such ERP effects, suggesting that rhyme effects may depend, at least to some degree, on allocation of attention to phonology, which may in turn activate task-incidental orthographic information.     

Rhyming and the right hemisphere

Subjects determined whether two successively presented and orthographically different words rhymed with each other. The first word was presented at fixation and the second was presented either to the left or to the right of fixation, either alone (unilateral presentation) or accompanied by a distractor word in the other visual hemifield (bilateral presentation). Subjects were more accurate when the words did not rhyme, when presentation was unilateral, and when the target was flashed to the right visual hemifield. It was predicted that bilateral presentation would produce interference when information from both visual fields was processed by one hemisphere (callosal relay), but not when each of the two hemispheres performed a task independently (direct access). That is, callosal relay tasks should show greater laterality effects with bilateral presentations, whereas direct access tasks should show similar laterality effects with both bilateral and unilateral presentations. Greater laterality effects were observed for bilaterally presented rhyming words, but nonrhyming words showed similar laterality effects for both bilateral and unilateral presentations. These results suggest that judgment of nonrhyming words can be performed by either hemisphere, but that judgment of rhyming words requires callosal relay to the left hemisphere. The absence of a visual field difference with nonrhyming word pairs suggests further that judgment of nonrhyming word pairs may be accomplished by the right hemisphere when presentation is to the left visual field.     

Book reviews

Over the last 30 years or so, various findings have been reported which suggest that the perception of spoken words may involve the automatic coactivation of orthographic properties. Here we assessed this possibility in auditory rhyme judgement tasks and replicated a classic finding reported by Seidenberg and Tanenhaus (1979), showing that orthographic similarity between stimuli facilitated responses on rhyming pairs, but had the opposite effect on nonrhyming pairs. However, Experiments 2 and 3 showed that manipulating the nature of the nonrhymes, or adding a large proportion of filler items, eliminated the effects of orthographic match or mismatch. These findings suggest the involvement of strategic factors in the emergence of orthographic effects in rhyme judgement tasks.     

Rhyme recognition and phonemic perception in young children

A forced-choice rhyme recognition test was used to assess the ability of 4-,5-, and 6-year-old children to recognize rhymes. The number and position of phonemes shared by the rhyming and nonrhyming response choices were systematically varied. Although there were age differences, the performance levels were quite high for all age groups, including the 4-year-olds. For all age groups, formal similarity of the stimulus word and nonrhyming choice proved to be a major factor determining the difficulty of rhyming items. The results were discussed in terms of potential implications for improving reading readiness.This paper is based on an M.A. thesis conducted by the first author under the direction of the second author. Funds for the purchase of computer time were made available by the Graduate College, University of Iowa.     

轻度认知损伤重复效应脑电研究：范式及应用

“语义一致性加重复”范式（congruity-plus-repetition paradigm）在早前重复范式的基础上增加了早期语义情境用以控制重复效应的前期成份N400和后期成份P600之间的相互干扰。作者回顾了这种范式在轻度认知损伤（mild cognitive impairment,MCI）的事件相关电位研究领域的应用,并分析了该范式在MCI的识别及预测其向痴呆转归方面的优越性。提示效应的组合更能标记正常认知老化向痴呆的动态过渡;能产生两个或多个效应组合的实验范式将是该领域未来研究方向之一。     

Phonological Similarity and Trace Degradation in the Serial Recall Task: When CAT helps RAT,but not MAN

Phonological similarity is observed to affect serial recall detrimentally when correct-in-position scoring is used. Two experiments investigated the role of item and position accuracy scoring of rhyming, similar nonrhyming, and dissimilar lists under immediate recall conditions; articulatory suppression; or a filled delay. In general, rhyme lists produced the best item recall but position accuracy was highest for dissimilar lists. The results are due to a category cueing effect improving item recall for rhyme lists in conjunction with a detrimental effect of phonological similarity on position accuracy.     

Processing fluency affects behavior more strongly among people higher in trait mindfulness

Processing fluency is the ease of processing information about a stimulus, which people can attribute to the experience of enjoyment. Despite consistent findings that processing fluency can affect self-reported judgments, little research has examined whether processing fluency or its interactions with personality traits can affect behavior. The current studies demonstrate that processing fluency is more likely to affect behavior among people higher in trait mindfulness. We manipulated processing fluency with rhyming versus nonrhyming maxims in Study 1 and with regulatory fit versus nonfit in Study 2. Participants higher in mindfulness showed a stronger positive effect for processing fluency on the dependent variable: the number of ideas they listed in a task they continued for as long as they enjoyed it.     

Atypical neural functions underlying phonological processing and silent rehearsal in children who stutter

Phonological processing was examined in school-age children who stutter (CWS) by assessing their performance and recording event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in a visual rhyming task. CWS had lower accuracy on rhyming judgments, but the cognitive processes that mediate the comparisons of the phonological representations of words, as indexed by the rhyming effect (RE) ERP, were similar for the stuttering and normally fluent groups. Thus the lower behavioral accuracy of rhyming judgments by the CWS could not be attributed to that particular stage of processing. Instead, the neural functions for processes preceding the RE, indexed by the N400 and CNV elicited by the primes and the N400 elicited by the targets, suggest atypical processing that may have resulted in less efficient, less accurate rhyming judgment for the CWS. Based on the present results, it seems likely that the neural processes related to phonological rehearsal and target word anticipation, as indexed by the CNV, are distinctive for CWS at this age. Further, it is likely that the relative contributions of the left and right hemispheres differ in CWS in the stage of processing when linguistic integration occurs, as indexed by the N400. Taken together, these results suggest that CWS may be less able to form and retain a stable neural representation of the prime onset and rime as they anticipate the target presentation, which may lead to lower rhyming judgment accuracy.     

Event-related potentials and the phonological matching of picture names

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from one midline and three pairs of lateral electrodes while subjects determined whether a pair of sequentially presented pictures had rhyming or nonrhyming names. During the 1.56-sec interval between the two pictures, the slow ERP wave recorded over the left hemisphere was more negative-going than that over the right, especially at frontal electrodes. The ERPs evoked by the second picture differed as a function of whether its name rhymed with its predecessor. This difference, taking the form of increased negativity in ERPs to nonrhyming items, had an earlier onset and a greater magnitude at right than at left hemisphere electrodes. This pattern of ERP asymmetries is qualitatively similar to that found when words are rhyme-matched. It is therefore concluded that such asymmetries do not depend on the employment of orthographic material and may reflect some aspect(s) of the phonological processing of visually presented material.     

《彖传》韵考

本文据《彖传》解释古经六十四卦卦名、卦辞、卦义的特点,认定《彖传》为六十四章,逐章考证了 其押韵韵部,共得出二百五十三个韵脚字,即二百五十三个韵句,又据换韵与语义特征,考证了《彖传》的 语义段。二百五十三个韵脚字分布于古韵十八部中,这为一系列的重要研究提供了基础。     

A comparison of semantic and syntactic event related potentials generated by children and adults

The present study employs event related potentials (ERPs) to verify the utility of using electrophysiological measures to study developmental questions within the field of language comprehension. Established ERP components (N400 and P600) that reflect semantic and syntactic processing were examined. Fifteen adults and 14 children (ages 8-13) processed spoken stimuli containing either semantic or syntactic anomalies. Adult participants showed a significant N400 in response to semantic anomalies and P600 components in response to syntactic anomalies. Children also show evidence of both ERP components. The children's N400 component differed from the adults' in scalp location, latency, and component amplitude. The children's P600 was remarkably similar to the P600 shown by adults in scalp location, component amplitude, and component latency. Theoretical implication for theories of language comprehension in adults and children will be discussed.     

Phonetic recoding and reading difficulty in beginning readers

The results of a recent study (Liberman, Shankweiler, Liberman, Fowler, & Fischer, 1977) suggest that good beginning readers are more affected than poor readers by the phonetic characteristics of visually presented items in a recall task. The good readers made significantly more recall errors on strings of letters with rhyming letter names than on nonrhyming sequences; in contrast, the poor readers made roughly equal numbers of errors on the rhyming and nonrhyming letter strings. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the interaction between reading ability and phonetic similarity is solely determined by different rehearsal strategies of the two groups. Accordingly, good and poor readers were tested on rhyming and nonrhyming words using a recognition memory paradigm that minimized the opportunity for rehearsal. Performance of the good readers was more affected by phonetic similarity than that of the poor readers, in agreement with the earlier study. The present findings support the hypothesis that good and poor readers do differ in their ability to access a phonetic representation.     

Rhyme decisions to spoken words and nonwords

Lexical effects in auditory rhyme-decision performance were examined in three experiments. Experiment 1 showed reliable lexical involvement: rhyme-monitoring responses to words were faster than rhyme-monitoring responses to nonwords; and decisions were faster in response to high-frequency as opposed to low-frequency words. Experiments 2 and 3 tested for lexical influences in the rejection of three types of nonrhyming item: words, nonwords with rhyming lexical neighbors (e.g.,jop after the cuerob), and nonwords with no rhyming lexical neighbor (e.g.,vop afterrob). Words were rejected more rapidly than nonwords, and there were reliable differences in the speed and accuracy of rejection of the two types of nonword. The advantage for words over nonwords was replicated for positive rhyme decisions. However, there were no differences in the speed of acceptance, as rhymes, of the two types of nonword. The implications of these results for interactive and autonomous models of spoken word recognition are discussed. It is concluded that the differences in rejection of nonrhyming nonwords are due to the operation of a guessing strategy.