单字词和复合词预视加工的差异性研究：词边界信息无影响

本实验采用眼动轨迹记录法并结合边界范式（Rayner, 1975），操纵单字词和双字复合词的首字为一致预视或假字预视，考察单字词和复合词预视加工的差异性。另外，通过在中文句子中加入词边界信息——词间阴影，以考察词间阴影对单字词和复合词预视加工的影响。实验结果表明，复合词的预视效应大于单字词，并且词间阴影对单字词和复合词的预视加工均没有显著影响。因此，与印欧语系相比，中文阅读中更大更强的预视效应需从更深层次的语言和认知因素进行探讨。该结果更倾向于支持词切分和词汇识别模型。     

单字词和复合词预视加工的差异性研究：词边界信息无影响

本实验采用眼动轨迹记录法并结合边界范式（Rayner, 1975）,操纵单字词和双字复合词的首字为一致预视或假字预视,考察单字词和复合词预视加工的差异性。另外,通过在中文句子中加入词边界信息——词间阴影,以考察词间阴影对单字词和复合词预视加工的影响。实验结果表明,复合词的预视效应大于单字词,并且词间阴影对单字词和复合词的预视加工均没有显著影响。因此,与印欧语系相比,中文阅读中更大更强的预视效应需从更深层次的语言和认知因素进行探讨。该结果更倾向于支持词切分和词汇识别模型。     

汉语言语产生中的词长效应

采用启动条件下的词汇命名和图片命名范式, 探讨在汉语言语产生中词长效应的产生机制, 考察概念激活、词条提取和语音编码对词长效应的影响。实验1和实验2表明, 词条提取过程并不影响在词汇命名中的词长效应, 支持多词素词整词通达表征的理论。实验3显示, 概念激活和语音编码共同影响在图片命名中的词长效应, 被试对长词的命名时间显著地长于对短词的命名时间, 对下属水平概念的词汇提取显著地慢于对基本水平概念的词汇提取。研究结果支持多词素词语音编码的序列性和基本水平类别优先习得的观点。     

词素位置概率在中文阅读中的作用：词汇判断和眼动研究

中文词切分的认知机制一直是心理语言学关注的焦点问题之一,研究发现中文读者可使用词素位置概率等语言学线索帮助词切分,而首、尾词素位置概率的重要程度以往研究观点并不一致。本研究通过词汇判断和眼动实验,考察中文读者对首、尾词素位置概率的利用情况。实验1a和1b采用词汇判断任务,考察在不同词频条件下词首与词尾词素位置概率对词汇识别的影响。在错误率和反应时指标上,高频词条件下词首与词尾词素位置概率效应不显著;低频词条件下词首词素位置概率效应显著,词尾词素位置概率效应不显著。实验2a和2b采用句子阅读任务,考察在自然阅读情境中被试对词素位置概率的运用。在凝视时间、回视路径时间和总注视时间指标上,低频词条件下词首词素位置概率效应显著,词尾词素位置概率效应不显著。高频词条件下词首与词尾词素位置概率效应均不显著。词汇判断和眼动证据共同表明,词素位置概率信息是中文读者重要的语言词切分线索,且与词尾词素位置概率相比,词首词素位置概率在词汇切分与识别过程中发挥的作用更大。同时,词素位置概率线索的运用会受到词频的影响,研究结果支持复合词加工的混合通达表征模型。     

词长对中文阅读眼跳目标选择的影响：眼动证据

英文阅读研究发现词长对眼跳目标选择有重要影响,阅读等词长的句子时,长词的偏好眼跳长度比短词更长。但是中文文本没有词间空格,读者难以从副中央凹获取词长信息,所以基于英文阅读得出的结果是否适用于中文阅读尚不清楚。本研究采用等词长句子阅读范式,使用全部由单字词或双字词组成的句子或由各种词长的词汇组成的混合句作为实验材料,考察词长对中文阅读眼跳目标选择的影响。结果发现,中文阅读中的眼跳长度会随词长变化而变化,双字词句的眼跳入长度和眼跳出长度均显著长于单字词句,支持了基于词中心的眼跳长度假设;同时,实验也发现混合句中的双字词的眼跳长度和双字词句中双字词的眼跳长度没有显著差异,支持了基于加工情况的眼跳目标选择策略;综合二者,说明中文阅读中,读者眼跳目标选择可能建立在副中央凹对词长信息加工的基础之上。     

Bigram Frequency,Number of Syllables and Morphemes and Their Effects on Lexical Decision and Word Naming

There has been an increasing volume of evidence supporting the role of the syllable in word processing tasks. Recently it has also been shown that orthographic redundancy, related to the pattern of bigram frequencies, could not explain the syllable number effect on lexical decision times. This was demonstrated on a large sample of words taken from the British Lexicon Project. In this study we extend this research by examining both lexical decision and word naming times taken from the English Lexicon Project . There was a syllable number effect for both tasks in the expected direction, and this effect was independent of the presence of a bigram trough. The research also examined the role of other bigram related variables and the number of morphemes on lexical decision and word naming times. The number of morphemes had a significant effect on both word processing tasks, with words with more morphemes producing faster reaction times and also fewer errors. This pattern was reversed for nonword lexical decision times. The results are discussed in the light of recent developments in models of reading.     

Phonological recoding and context

This paper reports an experiment in which lexical decision times for words with irregular spelling-to-sound correspondence (e.g., GAUGE) and matched regular words (e.g., GRILL) were measured under two conditions: priming, in which each target was preceded by a semantically related word, and a control condition, in which each target was preceded by an asterisk. The results showed that lexical decision times were significantly longer for irregular words and that lexical decision times were significantly faster in the priming condition. There was no interaction between these two factors, indicating that these two variables have an additive effect on lexical decision speed. The experiment therefore extends the range of conditions under which word regularity effects can be demonstrated and suggests that the phonological component of the lexical access process is uninfluenced by the provision of semantic context. The nature of regularity effects with regard to lexical decision is also briefly discussed.     

Flexible parafoveal encoding of character order supports word predictability effects in Chinese reading: Evidence from eye movements

Several eye-movement studies have revealed flexibility in the parafoveal processing of character-order information in Chinese reading. In particular, studies show that processing a two-character word in a sentence benefits more from parafoveal preview of a nonword created by transposing rather than replacing its two characters. One issue that has not been investigated is whether the contextual predictability of the target word influences this processing of character order information. However, such a finding would provide novel evidence for an early influence of context on lexical processing in Chinese reading. Accordingly, we investigated this issue in an eye-movement experiment using the boundary paradigm and sentences containing two-character target words with high or low contextual predictability. Prior to the reader’s gaze crossing an invisible boundary, each target word was shown normally (i.e. a valid preview) or with its two characters either transposed or replaced by unrelated characters to create invalid nonword previews. These invalid previews reverted to the target word once the reader’s gaze crossed the invisible boundary. The results showed larger preview benefits (i.e. a decrease in fixation times) for target words following transposed-character than substituted-character previews, revealing a transposed-character effect similar to that in previous research. In addition, a word predictability effect (shorter fixation times for words with high than low predictability) was observed following both valid and transposed-character previews, but not substituted-character previews. The findings therefore reveal that context can influence an early stage of lexical processing in Chinese reading during which character order is processed flexibly.

     

Semantic size does not matter: "bigger" words are not recognized faster

Sereno, O'Donnell, and Sereno (2009) reported that words are recognized faster in a lexical decision task when their referents are physically large than when they are small, suggesting that "semantic size" might be an important variable that should be considered in visual word recognition research and modelling. We sought to replicate their size effect, but failed to find a significant latency advantage in lexical decision for "big" words (cf. "small" words), even though we used the same word stimuli as Sereno et al. and had almost three times as many subjects. We also examined existing data from visual word recognition megastudies (e.g., English Lexicon Project) and found that semantic size is not a significant predictor of lexical decision performance after controlling for the standard lexical variables. In summary, the null results from our lab experiment--despite a much larger subject sample size than Sereno et al.--converged with our analysis of megastudy lexical decision performance, leading us to conclude that semantic size does not matter for word recognition. Discussion focuses on why semantic size (unlike some other semantic variables) is unlikely to play a role in lexical decision.     

重复启动条件下中文双字词的识别

采用重复启动的研究范式,研究了中文合成词与单纯词的识别．结果发现,在单字启动条件下与整词启动条件下,合成词与单纯词都存在显著的重复启动效应。单字启动与整词启动的启动量没有显著差异。合成词与单纯词１（成分字的构词数大于１）之间差异显著,合成词的识别快于单纯词１．但是,单纯词２（成分字的构词数等于１）的识别却快于合成词。实验还发现,合成词与单纯词１存在着明显的位置效应,位置１的启动效果大于位置２,实验结果主要支持了词素存储的假设,但有些结果不能用这种假设解释。     

汉语“主观词”的表征及其加工

本文提出了"主观词"的概念,并探讨主观词存在的心理现实性以及主观词的加工特征。包括3项研究:研究1考察了普通大学生对双字结构的词汇辨别情况,发现他们倾向于将短语和词主观判断为词,即他们按照个体对词的独特表征认知词,证实了主观词存在的心理现实性。研究2和研究3分别采用"词优效应"研究中使用的强迫选择作业和词汇判断任务考察主观词加工的特征。研究2发现,读者加工词和主观词(语法上是短语但主观评定为词)的正确率和反应时没有差异,但与非词条件相比,表现为正确率高,反应时短;研究3的反应时结果同研究2,而3种条件的正确率均在90%以上且不存在显著差异。在本研究条件下,得出以下结论:(1)主观词的存在具有心理现实性:读者对汉语词语的表征是主观的,不一定符合词的语法学规定;(2)在强迫选择作业下,与非词相比,表现出词优效应,主观词作为整体被识别。(3)在词汇判断任务下,主观词与词相同,与非词相比,表现出加工优势。     

听觉呈现条件下汉语双字词语义和语音启动的ERP研究

在词汇决定实验中研究语义启动和语音启动,材料为通过听觉呈现的汉语双字词组成的词对(间隔600ms),记录行为数据和ERP数据,结果发现：(1)启动词与目标词之间的语义联系可显著改善对目标词的加工,表现为错误率降低、反应时缩短,以及N400波幅降低;(2)启动词与目标词之间的语音一致对目标词的加工既有干扰作用,又有促进作用。表现为错误率提高,但反应时趋向缩短,N400波幅亦呈下降趋势;(3)启动词与目标词首音相同比尾音相同有更大的干扰作用。     

Gradients versus dichotomies: How strength of semantic context influences event-related potentials and lexical decision times

In experiments devoted to word recognition and/or language comprehension, reaction time in the lexical decision task is perhaps the most commonly used behavioral dependent measure, and the amplitude of the N400 component of the event-related potential (ERP) is the most common neural measure. Both are sensitive to multiple factors, including frequency of usage, orthographic similarity to other words, concreteness of word meaning, and preceding semantic context. All of these factors vary continuously. Published results have shown that both lexical decision times and N400 amplitudes show graded responses to graded changes of word frequency and orthographic similarity, but a puzzling discrepancy in their responsivity to the strength of a semantic context has received little attention. In three experiments, we presented pairs of words varying in the strengths of their semantic relationships, as well as unrelated pairs. In all three experiments, N400 amplitudes showed a gradient from unrelated to weakly associated to strongly associated target words, whereas lexical decision times showed a binary division rather than a gradient across strengths of relationship. This pattern of results suggests that semantic context effects in lexical decision and ERP measures arise from fundamentally different processes.     

Are lexical decisions a good measure of lexical access? The role of word frequency in the neglected decision stage

Three experiments investigated the impact of five lexical variables (instance dominance, category dominance, word frequency, word length in letters, and word length in syllables) on performance in three different tasks involving word recognition: category verification, lexical decision, and pronunciation. Although the same set of words was used in each task, the relationship of the lexical variables to reaction time varied significantly with the task within which the words were embedded. In particular, the effect of word frequency was minimal in the category verification task, whereas it was significantly larger in the pronunciation task and significantly larger yet in the lexical decision task. It is argued that decision processes having little to do with lexical access accentuate the word-frequency effect in the lexical decision task and that results from this task have questionable value in testing the assumption that word frequency orders the lexicon, thereby affecting time to access the mental lexicon. A simple two-stage model is outlined to account for the role of word frequency and other variables in lexical decision. The model is applied to the results of the reported experiments and some of the most important findings in other studies of lexical decision and pronunciation.     

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。     

The developmental turnpoint of orthographic consistency effects in speech recognition

The influence of orthography on children's online auditory word recognition was studied from the end of Grade 4 to the end of Grade 9 by examining the orthographic consistency effect in auditory lexical decision. Fourth-graders showed evidence of a widespread influence of orthography in their spoken word recognition system; words with rimes that can be spelled in two different ways (inconsistent) produced longer auditory lexical decision times and more errors than did consistent words. A similar consistency effect was also observed on pseudowords. With adult listeners, on exactly the same material, we replicated the usual pattern of an orthographic consistency effect restricted to words in lexical decision. From Grade 6 onward, this adult pattern of orthographic effect on spoken recognition is already observable.     

词汇预测性对中文高、低阅读技能儿童眼动行为的影响

操纵目标词的预测性、词频和阅读技能水平,考察句子阅读中词汇预测性对高、低阅读技能儿童眼动行为的影响,揭示其在儿童阅读发展中的作用。结果显示：儿童对高预测词的跳读率更高、注视时间更短,且预测性与词频交互影响跳读率和注视时间;预测性对高阅读技能儿童早期的跳读率影响更大,而对低阅读技能儿童晚期的再阅读时间具有更大影响。结果表明：词汇预测性影响儿童阅读的眼动行为和词汇加工,且作用大小和发生时程受阅读技能调节。     

Hemispheric processing characteristics for lexical decisions in adults with reading disorders

The present study measured unilateral tachistoscopic vocal reaction times and error responses of reading-disordered and normally reading adults to single words and nonwords in a series of lexical decision tasks at two linguistic levels (concrete and abstract words). Analysis of variance on reaction times indicated that main effects of stimulus type, visual field, and the interaction of these variables were not significant for the reading-disordered group, but visual field and an interaction of visual field and stimulus type were for the normally reading adults. Error rate showed a significant interaction of stimulus x visual field for the reading-disordered group but not for the normal reading group. Post hoc tests showed significant differences in error rates between visual fields for concrete lexicon but not for abstract or nonsense lexicon for the reading-disordered group. These findings suggest a deficit in interhemispheric lexical transfer occurs for reading-disordered samples and suggest use of a callosal relay model wherein the left hemisphere is allocated responsibility for performing central operations underlying lexical decisions by adults with reading disorders.     

中文双字词的具体性效应研究

通过词汇决定任务来考察中文双字词的具体性效应,并检验双重编码理论和语境有效性模型对具体性效应的预测。实验一在刺激单独呈现的条件下操纵词的频率,结果发现在低频的情况下对抽象词的判断时间显著长于具体词,但是在中频情况下没有显著差异;实验二用低频具体词和低频抽象词做重复启动实验,发现重复启动不能消除具体性效应;实验三为低频具体词和低频抽象词提供句子语境,结果发现在一致性句子语境条件下具体性效应消失。以上实验结果既不完全符合双重编码理论的预测,也不完全符合语境有效性模型的预测。     

A word’s meaning affects the decision in lexical decision

The influence of an isolated word’s meaning on lexical decision reaction time (RT) was demonstrated through four experiments. Subjects in two experiments made lexical decision judgments, those in a third experiment pronounced the words used in the lexical decision task, and those in a fourth experiment quickly pronounced their first associative response to the words. Differences in lexical access time for the words were measured with the pronunciation task, and differences in meaning were assessed with the association task. Multiple regression analyses of lexical decision RT were conducted using associative RT, pronunciation RT, and other target word properties (printed frequency, length, instance dominance, and number of dictionary meanings) as predictor variables. These analyses revealed a relationship between lexical decision RT and associative RT after the effects of other variables had been partialed out. In addition, word frequency continued to have a significant relationship to lexical decision RT beyond that shared with pronunciation RT and the other variables. The results of these experiments indicate that at least some of the effect of word meaning and word frequency in lexical decision is attributable to a decision stage following lexical access.