Letter identification and lateral masking in dyslexic and average readers

Lateral masking and letter identification in dyslexic and average readers were investigated with a methodology that corrected for some of the weaknesses of the Geiger and Lettvin studies (1986, 1987). Target letters were presented alone or embedded within three-letter arrays at retinal locations from 0 degrees to 15 degrees to the right or left of a fixation point. A foveal letter, which was the same as or different from a target letter, appeared as a distractor, and comparisons were made between scaled and unscaled stimuli. Dyslexic readers were found to be better than average readers at detecting scaled letters embedded in an array in some of the peripheral locations tested. Unlike the results of Geiger and Lettvin, however, this finding of better letter detection in the periphery by dyslexics was limited to selected conditions of the study. Reading groups were also found to differ in responding to the foveal distractor in the letter task. Detection of letters by average readers was affected by the type of distractor, but this variable was not found to influence the dyslexic readers. These findings suggest some differences between dyslexic and average readers in attention to stimuli presented at multiple locations in the visual field.     

Infant state in relation to its environmental context

Two neonatal intensive care units (NICU) were observed every 15 minutes for at least 72 consecutive hours. Although infants on both NICUs were exposed to considerable amounts of stimulation, there were differences between the units for each environmental measure in the amount of stimulation and/or the pattern of circadian periodicity. The two NICUs also differed in the amount of time infants spent in various states and in the pattern of state periodicity. In general, the diurnal rhythms of the infant states were associated with the diurnal rhythms of different environmental events; furthermore, the patterns of association were not the same on the two NICUs. The results point to potential problems in depicting a “typical” NICU. More importantly, they suggest that the environmental of NICUs has a recognizable influence on aspects of their inhabitants' behavior and that the nature of influence is different from NICU to NICU. The effects are potentially significant for physical, social, and cognitive development.     

Letter information and orthographic context in word perception

Theories of word perception in reading can be categorized in terms of the assumption made about whether or not a word context modifies the feature analysis of its component letters. Independence theories assume that the visual information passed on by feature analysis is independent of word context. Nonindependence theories assume that a word context directly influences visual analysis. Some nonindependence theories have assumed that word context enhances feature analysis of letters, others have assumed that word context overrides feature analysis of letters, and some have assumed that word context directs which letters are analyzed. The present experiment provided a critical test between the two classes of theories by independently varying orthographic context and visual letter information in a letter recognition task. The results contradict the qualitative predictions of the class of nonindependence theories and are accurately described by a quantification of independence theory.     

Temperamental profiles and linguistic development: Differences in the quality of linguistic production in relation to temperament in children of 28 months

The temperamental constellations that can be found in the infant population may influence the development trajectories of single domains of knowledge, such as that relative to language. The main objective of this study is to identify temperamental profiles to which one associates different levels of linguistic competence and to identify the profile associated with the highest risk for language acquisition. The temperamental characteristics of a sample of 106 children of 28 months attending day-care centres were surveyed and three temperamental profiles were highlighted: a profile typical of the Italian population which grouped most of the children; another made up of easily distractible and not very persistent children, who show a poor capacity to modulate motor activity and finally, the third with children inhibited in new situations. A comparison of the three groups on the basis of the level of linguistic competence revealed important differences regarding certain indices such as the vocabulary size and composition: in particular, the group of “inattentive” children has a more “immature” vocabulary composition, characterised by the presence of more primitive components of the lexical repertory.     

The relation of phenomenal brightness reversal and re-reversal to backward masking and recovery

Three recent experiments have demonstrated that a visual target suppressed through backward masking can be recovered by the introduction of a second mask. Present theories of backward masking cannot account for this since they assume that a masked target has no representation in the visual system. Amechanism is suggested to account for both visual backward masking and recovery in terms of lateral inhibition. Experimental evidenc e is offered in support of the hypothesized mechanism.     

Perceptual grouping between successively presented stimuli and its relation to visual simultaneity and masking

Summary A 4×4 matrix of dots was presented by a tachistoscope. The first and the third columns of the stimulus pattern were presented first for 20 ms and then the second and the fourth columns were presented for 20 ms with SOAs of 0 to 170 ms. Luminous dots on a dark background, black dots on a white background, and black dots and small outline circles on a white background were used in Experiments I, II, and III, respectively. In each experiment, 5 Ss were asked to report whether the stimulus dots were seen as 4 horizontal rows or 4 vertical columns, and whether they were seen simultaneously or successively. The experimental results showed that the time range of successive grouping was nearly the same as that of perceptual simultaneity in Experiments I and II, but was much greater than the latter in Experiment III where the similarity factor favored successive grouping. Successive grouping generally occurred in the same time range with visual masking of dot patterns by random dots, temporal organization of patterns from successive stimulus elements. But the time range was generally wider than those of contrast reduction caused by temporal luminance summation, metacontrast, and apparent movement.A part of this study was conducted during the junior author's stay at Chiba University and presented by him at the 20th International Congress of Psychology at Tokyo, August 13–19, 1972 (Yamada and Oyama, 1972)     

Learning in context: linguistic and attentional constraints on children's color term learning

Three experiments investigated whether linguistic and/or attentional constraints might account for preschoolers' difficulties when learning color terms. Task structure and demands were equated across experiments, and both speed and degree of learning were compared. In Experiment 1, 3-year-olds who were matched on vocabulary score were taught new secondary color terms by corrective, semantic, or referential linguistic contrast. Corrective contrast produced more rapid and more extensive learning than did either semantic or referential contrast, supporting the hypothesis that targeted linguistic feedback facilitates learning. Experiment 2 replicated and extended the first experiment with Italian children and found cross-cultural differences in the amount learned about colors named differently in the two languages. In Experiment 3, some of the children were introduced to the new terms within a context of enhanced perceptual salience. These children learned as fast and performed as accurately as those given corrective linguistic feedback in Experiment 1.     

Articulatory-rate context effects in phoneme identification

Three experiments demonstrated that the pattern of changes in articulatory rate in a precursor phrase can affect the perception of voicing in a syllable-initial prestress velar stop consonant. Fast and slow versions of a 10-word precursor phrase were recorded, and sections from each version were combined to produce several precursors with different patterns of change in articulatory rate. Listeners judged the identity of a target syllable, selected from a 7-member /gi/-ki/ voice-onset-time (VOT) continuum, that followed each precursor phrase after a variable brief pause. The major results were: (a) articulatory-rate effects were not restricted to the target syllable's immediate context; (b) rate effects depended on the pattern of rate changes in the precursor and not the amount of fast or slow speech or the proximity of fast or slow speech to the target syllable: and (c) shortening of the pause (or closure) duration led to a shortening of VOT boundaries rather than a lengthening as previously found in this phonetic context. Results are explained in terms of the role of dynamic temporal expectancies in determining the response to temporal information in speech, and implications for theories of extrinsic vs. intrinsic timing are discussed.     

Tinnitus and short-term serial recall in stable versus intermittent masking conditions

The relation between tinnitus and short-term memory performance in varying background sounds is not well understood. In the present study a sample of 18 persons with tinnitus completed a serial recall test in three conditions, silence, masking and intermittent masking. The performance of a matched control group without tinnitus was also investigated. Based on the literature on the "irrelevant sound effect" we expected that the tinnitus group would perform worse during intermittent masking and that they would score lower overall compared to the control group. Results revealed no statistically significant differences between the groups, nor any group interaction within sound conditions for the serial recall test. Groups did however differ regarding subjective measures of concentration problems, anxiety and depression. Results are discussed in relation to thought suppression and distraction from tinnitus.     

A diffusion model account of masking in two-choice letter identification

The diffusion model developed by R. Ratcliff (1978, 1981, 1985, 1988) for 2-choice decisions was applied to data from 2 letter identification experiments. In the experiments, stimulus letters were displayed and then masked, and the stimulus onset asynchrony between letter and mask was manipulated to vary accuracy from near chance to near ceiling. A standard reaction time procedure was used in one experiment and a deadline procedure in the other. Two hypotheses about the effect of masking on the information provided to the decision process were contrasted: (a) The output of perception to the decision process varies with time, so that the information used by the decision process rises and falls, reflecting the stimulus onset and mask onset. (b) The output of perception to the decision is constant over time, reflecting information integrated over the time between the stimulus and mask onsets. The data were well fit by the diffusion model only with the assumption of constant information over time.     

Laterality differences and practice effects under central backward masking conditions

Two experiments were conducted to examine laterality differences and practice effects under various central backward masking conditions. Critical stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was determined for subjects on 3 consecutive days using single letters as target stimuli (TS) and a pattern masking stimulus (MS). There was a right visual field (RVF) advantage on Day 1 but no difference between the visual fields on following days. The decline in the RVF advantage appeared to be dependent upon prior experience with laterally located letters, to be independent of initial experience with a particular set of letters, and to be more pronounced for females than for males. In addition, large improvements in performance were found, particularly between the first and second testing sessions. These practice effects were discussed in terms of the possible development of strategies for enhancing TS features or attenuating MS features.     

On the relation between metacontrast masking and suppression of visible persistence

Does the introduction of additional contours in a display sequence (an operation known to reduce the strength of suppression in metacontrast) also reduce suppression of visible persistence? In three experiments, duration of visible persistence was estimated by a method in which successful performance depends on the temporal integration of a pattern whose elements are displayed in two successive frames. In this procedure, the arrival of the trailing frame is known to exert a suppressive influence on the visible persistence of the leading frame. Embedding the elements of the leading frame within additional contours (a line grid) reduced the degree of suppression exerted by the trailing frame. This did not occur when the grid was part of the trailing display. We conclude that suppression of visible persistence and metacontrast masking belong to the same class of events.     

The relation of cultural context and social relationships to career development in middle school

This study examined the role of supportive relationships (i.e., family, teacher, and peer) and agency (i.e., self-efficacy, motivation, and goal-setting orientation) on three outcomes: academic grades, distress, and career decidedness. Data from 588 middle school youth from Northern (N = 322) and Southern (N = 266) Italy were analyzed using path modeling. Results indicated that across gender and region, agency was consistently related to academic grades and career decidedness. However, the role of supportive relationships was found to differ across gender and region. For both boys from Northern Italy and girls from Southern Italy, the impact of family support on academic grades and career decidedness was mediated by agency. For girls from Northern Italy, family support related directly to academic grades and career decidedness. Implications for practice were described.     

On beyond zebra: the relation of linguistic and visual information

This paper addresses the problem of how the forms of information derived by the visual system can be translated into forms useable by the language capacity, so that it is possible to talk about what one sees. The hypothesis explored here is that there is a translation between the 3D model of Marr's (1982) visual theory and the semantic/conceptual structure of Jackendoff's (1983) theory of natural language semantics. It is shown that there are substantial points of correspondence through which the encoding of physical objects and their locations and motions can be coordinated between these two levels of representation, and that both of these levels are deeply involved in visual as well as linguistic understanding.     

The influence of parafoveal preprocessing and linguistic context on the optimal landing position effect

Several experiments have shown the existence of an optimal landing position effect during isolated word recognition as well as during text reading; both the probability of refixating the test word and the gaze duration are smaller if the eye first fixates near the center of the word than if the eye first fixates other positions in the word. However, recent data indicate that the optimal landing position effect is weakened under normal reading conditions, when words are included in texts. The purpose of the present experiment was to test whether parafoveal preprocessing or linguistic context specific to the text reading situation could be responsible for this weakening. With a paradigm that approximates normal reading, albeit in a somewhat slower manner, it was shown that although the possibility of preprocessing words in parafoveal vision and of predicting them from preceding context globally affected refixation probability and gaze duration on the word, this did not strongly affect the optimal landing position effect. Since the global effects of these factors were comparable to those found by other authors in normal reading, it was concluded that the weakening of the optimal landing position effect during text reading results from the influence of other factors peculiar to this situation. Hypotheses are proposed as explanations of the effects of the manipulated factors on oculomotor behavior.     

Reading skill and the identification of words in discourse context

Word identification latencies and word prediction accuracy were compared for groups of skilled and less skilled young readers in three experiments. In each experiment, discourse context reduced identification latencies for less skilled as well as skilled readers. This was true both when context was heard and when it was read. The general relationship between word predictability and latency was the same for skilled readers and for less skilled readers, but only less skilled readers’ identification latencies were affected by word length and word frequency when the word appeared in context. When subjects predicted the word before identifying it, correctly predicted words were identified more quickly than words not predicted correctly, and skilled readers were more accurate in prediction than were less skilled readers. Although reading-related differences in the use of discourse context may characterize other aspects of reading comprehension, the use of context in identifying words is not a major source of reading difficulty.     

Word identification in isolation and in context by college dyslexic students

College dyslexic students (DYS) were compared to chronological age (CA)-matched and to reading age (RA)-matched control groups on tasks assessing naming of words and nonwords, regular and irregular words, and the use of context in word identification. The DYS group had the slowest naming latency for words in all tasks. In addition, they had extreme difficulty in naming nonwords, which in terms of the dual-route model for word recognition indicates impairment in the indirect route to the lexicon. However, they displayed a regularity effect in reading regular and irregular words and thus apparently utilized the indirect route in reading words. Correlational data supported the conclusion that the data are in conflict with the traditional dual-route model, and an alternative conceptualization is suggested. The use of context is discussed in terms of the interactive-compensatory model (Stanovich, 1980) and findings were generally supportive of the model. The DYS subjects of the present study appeared to be different from the RA controls and their performance did not support a developmental-lag model for explaining their reading problems.     

A taste of words: linguistic context and perceptual simulation predict the modality of words

Previous studies have shown that object properties are processed faster when they follow properties from the same perceptual modality than properties from different modalities. These findings suggest that language activates sensorimotor processes, which, according to those studies, can only be explained by a modal account of cognition. The current paper shows how a statistical linguistic approach of word co-occurrences can also reliably predict the category of perceptual modality a word belongs to (auditory, olfactory-gustatory, visual-haptic), even though the statistical linguistic approach is less precise than the modal approach (auditory, gustatory, haptic, olfactory, visual). Moreover, the statistical linguistic approach is compared with the modal embodied approach in an experiment in which participants verify properties that share or shift modalities. Response times suggest that fast responses can best be explained by the linguistic account, whereas slower responses can best be explained by the embodied account. These results provide further evidence for the theory that conceptual processing is both linguistic and embodied, whereby less precise linguistic processes precede precise simulation processes.