Repetition priming within and between languages in semantic classification of concrete and abstract words

Although concrete nouns are generally agreed to have shared core conceptual representations across languages in bilinguals, it has been proposed that abstract nouns have separate representations or share fewer semantic components. Conceptual repetition priming methodology was used to evaluate whether translation equivalents of abstract nouns have shared conceptual representations and compare the degree of conceptual overlap for concrete and abstract nouns. Here 72 Spanish-English bilinguals made concrete-abstract decisions on English and Spanish nouns. Both concrete and abstract nouns elicited substantial between-language priming and these effects were of equivalent size, indicating that translation equivalents of both concrete and abstract nouns have shared conceptual representations and that abstract words do not share fewer components. The between-language priming effects and their attenuation relative to within-language priming indicate that the within-language effect is based on facilitation of both word comprehension and semantic decision processes.     

Repetition priming within and between languages in semantic classification of concrete and abstract words

Although concrete nouns are generally agreed to have shared core conceptual representations across languages in bilinguals, it has been proposed that abstract nouns have separate representations or share fewer semantic components. Conceptual repetition priming methodology was used to evaluate whether translation equivalents of abstract nouns have shared conceptual representations and compare the degree of conceptual overlap for concrete and abstract nouns. Here 72 Spanish–English bilinguals made concrete–abstract decisions on English and Spanish nouns. Both concrete and abstract nouns elicited substantial between-language priming and these effects were of equivalent size, indicating that translation equivalents of both concrete and abstract nouns have shared conceptual representations and that abstract words do not share fewer components. The between-language priming effects and their attenuation relative to within-language priming indicate that the within-language effect is based on facilitation of both word comprehension and semantic decision processes.     

非熟练潮-粤双言者的语义通达：来自听觉词加工的证据

采用听觉跨语言启动的语义判断范式, 考察非熟练潮-粤双言者的两种方言之间的语义通达方式。结果发现, 无论是以潮语词为启动词, 还是以粤语词为启动词, 当二者具有翻译关系时, 启动词均促进对目标词的识别, 但L1对L2的启动量比L2对L1的启动量大。当启动词与目标词具有语义联想关系时, 启动词亦能促进对目标词的识别, 但L1→L2与L2→L1的启动量差异不显著。整个研究表明, 非熟练潮-粤双言者的两种方言的词汇独立表征, 语义共享表征; 第二方言的词汇能够直接通达语义表征, 不需要以第一方言的词汇为中介, 但双言的词汇表征与语义表征的联结强度仍然存在着不对称性。     

熟练潮-普双言者的语义通达机制:来自通道比较的证据

采用跨语言启动的范畴判断范式,通过2个实验,考察了熟练潮-普双言者在听觉通道内和听-视跨通道条件下的语义通达机制。结果发现,无论是以潮州话词语为启动词,还是以普通话词语为启动词,当词对具有高语义相关时,启动词均对目标词产生了显著的跨语言启动效应;在听觉通道内,两种语言之间的启动量无差异,而在听-视跨通道条件下,L2对L1的启动量显著大于L1对L2的启动量。这些结果表明,熟练潮-普双言者共享语义(概念)表征,词汇表征既相互独立又互相联系,L1与L2的词汇均能直接通达语义表征,但其联系强度及其相互之间的词汇表征联系强度均存在通道差异性。整个研究结果支持Kroll等人的修正分级模型。     

Effects of the degree of meaning similarity on cross-language semantic priming in highly proficient bilinguals

This study aimed to determine if access to meaning can be directly achieved from the words in the two languages, examining the influence of the degree of semantic overlap between related words across languages in the pattern of priming effects. Nonassociative semantically related words (members of the same category) were used, avoiding explicitly associative relationships. Using a priming paradigm, highly proficient Catalan–Spanish bilinguals were visually presented with pairs of words that either were translations of each other, had a very close semantic relationship (in terms of shared features), a close semantic relationship, or no semantic relationship at all. Participants performed either a lexical decision task (Experiment 1) or a semantic decision task (Experiment 2). The main results of the study were the same in both language directions (Spanish–Catalan and Catalan–Spanish), showing that the degree of semantic overlap (in terms of shared features) between words in different languages can modulate priming effects, regardless of the language of the prime and the task used. These results demonstrate that there is cross-language activation of shared semantic representations and, thus, that highly proficient bilinguals can have direct access to word meaning from the two languages.     

Semantic representation and surface forms: A look at across-language priming in bilinguals

The question of whether words in one language versus their translations in another access the same conceptual representation was addressed in the present experiment. English-French bilinguals were tested in a lexical decision task, the target words being primed by semantically related words in either the same language or across languages. The results show significant priming facilitation in both conditions; response latencies were notably shorter when the target was preceded by a semantically related word than when presented alone, whether or not the two words were presented in the same language. While these results seem to substantiate the hypothesis of a common semantic store for the two languages, close inspection reveals that facilitation was more likely due to the strategic use of primes than to automatic processing.     

Episodic accessibility and morphological processing: evidence from long-term auditory priming

Long-term priming studies of lexical processing have yielded conflicting claims as to whether abstract versus episodic representations are involved during word recognition. A critical piece of evidence that could separate the two accounts rests on the existence of full morphological priming, where morphologically related words yield the same amount of priming as repeated words. In this study, participants performed speeded lexical decision on lists of auditory words and non-words, which contained repeated, morphologically related, semantically related and phonologically related pairs of items. In order to minimize the involvement of episodic factors, we increased the prime-target interval and decreased their physical similarity by introducing a change in speaker’s voice. We show that under conditions that minimize access to episodic features, the magnitude of repetition priming decreased to attain that of morphological priming. Importantly, morphological and repetition priming for words were always observed in the absence of any semantic and phonological priming, suggesting that they cannot be reduced to formal or meaning overlap. Our results support the view that long-term priming taps both abstract lexical codes with a morphological format and episodic memory components. Further, they show that episodic influences on priming can be modulated by prime-target interval and physical similarity.     

中文词汇加工过程中的无关言语效应

通过两个词汇识别任务,考察词汇加工过程中的无关言语效应。实验1采用真假词判断任务,考察有意义言语、无意义言语、白噪音和安静的背景声音对不同具体性的词汇识别的影响。结果发现,仅有意义言语干扰了词汇识别,且主要体现在对低具体性词汇判断的反应时显著增加。实验2采用了语义范畴判断任务,同样发现有意义言语条件下被试的反应时显著大于其他声音条件。结果表明,中文词汇加工过程中存在无关言语效应,且当任务强调语义加工时,干扰主要源于无关言语的语义成分,支持了语义干扰假说。     

Negative priming from masked words: retrospective prime clarification of center-surround inhibition?

Masked repetition and semantic priming effects were examined in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, a masked-prime lexical decision task followed a phase of detection, semantic, or repetition judgments about masked words. In Experiment 2 participants made speeded pronunciations to target words after they tried to identify masked primes, and the proportion of semantically and identically related prime-target pairs was varied. Center-surround theory CT. H. Carr & D. Dagenbach, 1990; D. Dagenbach, T. H. Carr, & A. Wilhelmsen, 1989) predicts positive repetition priming but negative semantic priming when people attempt, but fail, to extract the meanings of masked words. A retrospective prime-clarification account, in contrast, predicts that semantic and repetition priming effects will vary (being positive or negative) as a function of expectations about the prime-target relation. The data support a retrospective prime-clarification account, which, unlike center-surround theory, correctly predicted negative repetition priming effects.     

词素效应到底是什么？——来自维吾尔语的证据

利用维吾尔语的一些特点,采用视觉－视觉启动、听觉－视觉跨通道启动、和延迟重复启动等三种启动技术,改变目标词和启动词之间在词素、词形以及语义上的多种关系,通过比较启动效应的异同,来考察词素效应是否可以还原为词形启动效应、语义效应,是否可以看成是词形和语义在实时加工中相互作用的后果,从而探讨词汇加工中词素效应的实质。实验一发现,在明确配对的视觉－视觉和跨通道启动中,启动词和目标词之间只有在具有词素加语义关系（＋m＋o＋s / D,＋m＋o＋s / R;其中,m 代表词素,o 代表词形,s 代表语义,D 代表目标词为派生词,R代表目标词为自由词根;＋ 表示启动词和目标词之间在某个维度上相关,－表示启动词和目标词之间在某个维度上无关）时或者仅仅具有语义关系（－m－o＋s / D）时,才有显著的启动效应。如果启动词与目标词之间仅仅具有词素（词形）关系,而没有语义关系（＋m＋o－s / D）,或者仅仅具有词形关系（－m＋o－s / R）,它们之间的启动效应微乎其微。实验二通过使用维吾尔语中的借词和延迟启动技术,比较了词素加语义加词形（＋m＋o＋s / D）的启动和语义加词形启动（－m＋o＋s / D）以及语义启动（－m＋o＋s / D）,发现词素启动效应并没有不同于其他启动条件下的效应。两个实验都表明,语义关系是产生启动效应的关键,没有语义相关,就不可能产生词素启动,词素效应依赖于语义效应。有了语义关系,词素关系和词形关系产生的作用很小。因此,词汇加工的词素效应是词形和语义统计学规律的反应,是词形和语义加工相互作用的后果,心理词典中并不需要明确地表征词汇结构。     

Asymmetrical cross-language priming effects

Three experiments were conducted to examine cross-language priming in bilinguals. The first was a cross-language primed lexical decision task experiment with Chinese-English bilinguals. Subjects made lexical decisions about primary associate targets in the two languages at the same rate, but priming occurred only when the prime was in their first language (L1), Chinese, and the target was in their second language (L2), English. Experiment 2 produced the same pattern of asymmetrical priming with two alphabetic languages, French and Dutch. In Experiment 3, the crucial stimuli were translation equivalents. In contrast to the results of Experiments 1 and 2, priming occurred across languages in both the L1-L2 and L2-L1 conditions. However, this priming was also asymmetrical, with more priming occurring in the L1-L2 condition. A tentative separate-interconnected model of bilingual memory is described. It suggests that the representations of words expressed in different languages are stored in separate memory systems, which may be interconnected via one-to-one links between same translation-equivalent representations as well as meaning-integration processes.     

Bidirectional associations of power and size in a priming task

Recent studies have shown that the size of a word's font affects people's judgements of its power. This result has been regarded as evidence for the association between power and size. It remains unclear, however, whether this association is bidirectional. The present study used a priming paradigm to determine whether processing power words was not only affected by processing size but also whether the reverse was true, consistent with metaphor representation being bidirectional. In Experiment 1, shapes in different sizes were used as priming materials, and power words were used as targets. In Experiment 2, to test the directionality of power and size, we tested two conditions using the exact same tasks but in reverse order: power words priming shapes and shapes priming power words. In Experiment 3, a significant priming effect was replicated when power words primed shapes in a lexical decision task rather than a powerful/powerless decision task. We found an interplay between power and size in all of the experiments. The bidirectional associations between power and size were in line with the strong version of Metaphoric Structuring, which claims that concrete concepts should influence abstract concepts and abstract domains should affect concrete domains. Thus, power is partially understood in terms of size, which demonstrates that abstract concepts are grounded in sensory motor processing.     

Reconnaissance en traduction et homographie interlangue

Several studies on bilingual word recognition have shown effects of word similarity between languages. Cognate words (translation equivalents with identical or near-identical forms like LIBRE in French and Spanish) are generally recognized and translated faster than non-cognates (translation equivalents with different forms). In this study, a translation recognition task (de Groot, 1992) was used in which participants (French-Spanish bilinguals) had to decide whether two words presented on a computer screen were translations or not. In Experiment 1, translation equivalents were identical cognates (same form: CIVIL-CIVIL [civil in Spanish]) and non-cognates (different forms: DANSE-BAILE [dance in Spanish]). All non-translation equivalents had different forms (TABLE [table in French]-AMIGO [friend in Spanish]). We observed a facilitation effect for cognate pairs which were processed faster than non-cognate pairs. In Experiment 2, we used the same material for translation equivalents (cognates and non-cognates) and two types of non-translation equivalents: interlingual homographs (same form but different meanings: CREER [create in French]-CREER [believe in Spanish]) and non-homographic non-translation pairs (different forms between languages) as used in Experiment 1. When the non-translation pairs shared the same form (interlingual homographs), they were rejected more slowly than other non-translation pairs. Moreover, contrary to Experiment 1, due to the presence of interlingual homographs in the experimental lists, the facilitation effect for cognate pairs was not replicated. The results suggest that all homographs (cognates and interlingual homographs) have a special status in bilingual memory (due to their lexical and/or semantic overlap) but their processing also depends on task demands and experimental list composition. Our results are in line with the distributed conceptual feature model of bilingual memory ( [de Groot, 1992] and [van Hell et de Groot, 1998] ). This model can explain facilitation and inhibition effects due to different overlaps between words (in both lexical and semantic levels). However, our results lead us to distinguish identification processes and decisional processes in this task as described in the BIA+ model (Dijkstra and van Heuven, 2002).     

Automatic Semantic Priming: The Contribution of Lexical- and Semantic-level Processes

It has recently been argued that the facilitation between associated primetarget pairs observed in automatic semantic priming tasks is due to lowlevel lexical effects. Any ''pure'' semantic priming is thought to be the result of strategic effects and does not therefore reflect automatic access to lexical semantic representations (e.g. Shelton & Martin, 1992). Not only are such claims based on a narrow definition of semantic relatedness as category comembership, but it is argued that the methodology employed by Shelton and Martin and other advocates of the intra-lexical priming hypothesis, who have attempted to dissociate semantic and associative effects by devising non-associated semantic prime-target pairs, is fundamentally flawed. Instead, an experiment is reported in which purely lexical-level primes are compared directly with semantic-level primes for the same target items in a sequential lexical decision task. Both types of prime produce facilitation, but only that from the semantic-level primes is significant. It is argued that, contrary to the intra-lexical priming hypothesis, semantic information is required for automatic semantic priming. If it were not, the lexical-level priming in this experiment would have been greater than the semantic-level priming. As it is, the reverse pattern is reported, providing support for the notion of a semantic contribution to the facilitation observed between associated prime-target pairs.     

熟练维-汉双语者汉语语义的通达机制

采用跨语言非掩蔽启动条件下的词汇判断实验范式,通过变换启动刺激和目标刺激的关系,研究了熟练维-汉双语者两种语言间的语义通达方式。结果发现,无论是维语作为启动刺激,还是汉语作为启动刺激,启动刺激与目标刺激之间无论是翻译关系,还是联想关系,启动刺激对目标刺激的识别都产生了显著的促进作用。并且两种方向的启动量没有显著差异。这些结果表明,对于熟练掌握维、汉两种语言的维吾尔族大学生而言,两种语言无论在词汇表征上,还是在概念表征上都建立了很强的联系,两种语言间词汇通达的不对称性已接近消失,支持了Kroll等人提出的整合的层级模型。     

Attentional modulation of masked repetition and categorical priming in young and older adults

Three experiments examined the effects of temporal attention and aging on masked repetition and categorical priming for numbers and words. Participants' temporal attention was manipulated by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony (i.e., constant or variable SOA). In Experiment 1, participants performed a parity judgment task and a lexical decision task in which categorical priming and repetition priming were, respectively, tested. Experiment 2 used a semantic categorization task testing categorical priming. In Experiment 3, repetition and categorical priming were tested in the same semantic categorization task with the same stimuli. The results of the three experiments showed that masked repetition priming is insensitive to manipulations of temporal attention whereas categorical priming is. Furthermore, no differences were found between young and older adults in repetition priming effects, again contrasting with the categorical priming results for which older adults were more sensitive to attentional manipulations than young adults.     

三语者语义通达中的跨语言重复启动效应

采用跨语言重复启动的任务范式探讨三语者的语义通达机制。被试为在广州学习汉语的印度尼西亚留学生48名。自变量是学习条件(包括学过与未学过), 因变量是单词判断的反应时和正确率。实验1探讨三语者在视觉与听觉呈现的三语词汇语义通达任务中是否会借助于一语对等词, 结果发现一语词汇在两种任务条件下都能够发挥中介作用, 此结果表明了三语者与双语者语义通达机制的一致性; 实验2探讨三语者在视觉与听觉呈现的三语词汇语义通达任务中是否会借助于二语对等词, 结果发现二语词汇只能在视觉呈现任务条件下发挥中介作用, 此结果表明二语词汇在三语语义通达过程中的中介作用具有限制性。本研究结果表明三语者的语义通达机制与双语者既有一致性, 也有其限制性。     

中-英双语者语言理解中非加工语言的自动激活

采用长时重复启动范式探讨母语为汉语的中-英双语者语言理解中非加工语言的激活状况。实验1和实验2使用词汇判断任务, 实验3和实验4使用概念判断任务。在每个实验的第一个小实验中, 非加工语言是英文, 在每个实验的第二个小实验中, 非加工语言是中文。实验1和实验3探讨学习阶段的非加工词在测验阶段呈现时能否出现长时重复启动效应, 从而检验双语者语言理解中非加工语言有没有自动激活; 实验2和实验4探讨学习阶段的非加工词在测验阶段以翻译对等词呈现时能否出现长时重复启动效应, 从而检验双语者语言理解中非加工语言的语义有没有自动激活。总的实验结果表明, 母语为汉语的中-英双语者在语言理解过程中, 加工一种语言(目标语言)时, 非加工语言(要求被试忽略的另一种语言)会自动激活, 但在词汇任务情境中, 非加工语言只在词汇层面上激活, 其语义不会自动激活, 而在概念任务情境中, 非加工语言的词汇层面和语义层面都会自动激活。     

双语即时切换下非目标语言语音和语义的激活状态

本研究采用双语即时切换范式, 探讨非熟练中英双语者在对目标语言(启动词)语音或语义的加工过程中非目标语言的激活状态。实验1设置了与启动词的翻译对等词存在语音相关或无关的两类配对词, 要求被试进行语音判断任务, 结果表明, 不论哪种切换条件, 两类配对词在反应时和P200成分上都没有差异, 说明目标语言在语音加工过程中非目标语言的语音层面没有得到自动激活, 从而没有产生启动效应。实验2则设置了语义相关和无关配对词, 并进行语义判断任务, 结果在两种切换条件下都发现明显的语义启动效应及N400差异, 说明非目标语言在语义层面上有得到自动激活, 但激活的程度表现出切换方向上的不一致, L1-L2切换下的语义启动量要明显大于L2-L1, 并且L1-L2的N400差异主要表现在前部脑区, 持续时间更久, 而L2-L1的N400差异主要表现在后部脑区, 但持续时间较短, 表明对于非熟练的双语者来说, 不同切换方向下对共享语义表征的激活加工是不一样的。     

Semantic priming with abstract and concrete words: differential asymmetry may be postlexical

We investigated whether abstract and concrete words would be differentially effective in priming lexical decisions to words presented to the right and left visual fields. Under low probability prime conditions, where priming is presumed to reflect a spreading activation process within the lexicon, equivalent priming was obtained in each VF for both abstract and concrete primes. However, when the same words were used in a high probability prime paradigm, abstract primes were much less effective in the LVF than in the RVF, while priming with concrete words did not differ across the visual fields. Since such priming may reflect a postlexical semantic integration stage, the results imply that hemisphere differences for processing abstract and concrete words may arise only after lexical access has occurred, when semantic information retrieved from the lexicon becomes available for subsequent processing.