A comparison of semantic. acoustic and visual criteria for matching of word pairs

Ss judged the some pairs of words “same” or “different” under semantic, acoustic and visualcriteria. RTs were compared for each criterion, and the effects of different kinds of confusabittty, such as acoustic similarity in the semantic matching task, or semantic similarity in the acoustic matching task, were also studied.     

Acoustic and semantic similarity effects on repetition avoidance in produced sequences

The question of whether repetition avoidance in sequential response production depends on the phonetic or the semantic encoding of previous responses was investigated by varying the acoustic and semantic similarity among the response alternatives. The results indicated that acoustic similarity affected repetition avoidance with six alternative words and a production rate of one per second, but not with four alternative letters and a rate of one per 2 sac. Semantic similarity between words was also studied, and was not seen to affect repetition avoidance. Results were explained by means of a model in which comparisons between a memory set of admissible responses and a memory set of recent responses are made at a phonetic level of response representation.     

The influence of acoustic and semantic similarity on long-term memory for word sequences

It has been shown that short-term memory (STM) for word sequences is grossly impaired when acoustically similar words are used, but is relatively unaffected by semantic similarity. This study tests the hypothesis that long-term memory (LTM) will be similarly affected. In Experiment I subjects attempted to learn one of four lists of 10 words. The lists comprised either acoustically or semantically similar words (A and C) or control words of equal frequency (B and D). Lists were learned for four trials, after which subjects spent 20 min. on a task involving immediate memory for digits. They were then asked to recall the word list. The acoustically similar list was learned relatively slowly, but unlike the other three lists showed no forgetting. Experiment II showed that this latter paradox can be explained by assuming the learning score to depend on both LTM and STM, whereas the subsequent retest depends only on LTM. Experiment III repeats Experiment I but attempts to minimize the effects of STM during learning by interposing a task to prevent rehearsal between the presentation and testing of the word sequences. Unlike STM, LTM proved to be impaired by semantic similarity but not by acoustic similarity. It is concluded that STM and LTM employ different coding systems.     

The influence of acoustic similarity on serial recall of letter sequences

Acoustic similarity is known to impair short-term memory (STM) for letter sequences. The present series of experiments investigated the effects of acoustic similarity on long-term retention. In the first experiment, subjects were asked to learn one of two lists of 8 letters, the letters being either of high or low acoustic similarity. Lists were visually presented for three trials, with subjects responding after each trial. Then subjects participated in an immediate memory task for digits which lasted for 20 min. Finally, subjects tried to recall the list of letters they had learned previously. Lists having items of high acoustic similarity were more difficult to recall on the first trial, but were better recalled on the delayed retention test. In a second experiment, groups of subjects were again asked to learn one of two lists of 8 letters differing in acoustic similarity, using different orders of the letters used previously. The procedures were identical except that in two groups, a STM task for digits intervened between the presentation and test of the letters. This intervening task minimized the effects of STM and eliminated the differences in retention found previously. In a third experiment, better long-term retention for material having high acoustic similarity was also obtained when subjects used a backward recall procedure. In the last experiment 14 item lists were learned to a criterion of two correct trials, and retention was tested after each trial and at a delay of 20 min. and 23 hr. No effect of acoustic similarity was found and little retention loss occurred. These results suggest that reducing the STM component by introducing a STM control or by lengthening the list caused the effect of acoustic similarity to disappear.     

Time of day and level of processing

The time of day at which material is presented has a differential effect on immediate and delayed retention. It has been suggested that this may be mediated by a shift in the type or level of processing that subjects spontaneously engage in. Three experiments are described that were designed to test this suggestion. Experiment 1 found the acoustic similarity effect on short-term memory to be greater at 1000 h than at 1900 h. Experiment 2 showed the semantic similarity effect on long-term memory to be greater at 1930 h than at 1030 h. Experiment 3 demonstrated that interposing a short-term memory task between the presentation of a list of words and its subsequent recall had a greater detrimental effect on list learning at 1030 h than at 1930 h. It is suggested that, if free to do so, subjects may spontaneously place more reliance on maintenance processing in the morning, but more on elaborative processing in the evening.     

Processing of formational, semantic, and iconic information in American sign language

Three experiments examined short-term encoding processes of deaf signers for different aspects of signs from American Sign Language. Experiment 1 compared short-term memory for lists of formationally similar signs with memory for matched lists of random signs. Just as acoustic similarity of words interferes with short-term memory or word sequences, formational similarity of signs had a marked debilitating effect on the ordered recall of sequences of signs. Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of the semantic similarity of the signs on short-term memory: Semantic similarity had no significant effect on short-term ordered recall of sequences of signs. Experiment 3 studied the role that the iconic (representational) value of signs played in short-term memory. Iconicity also had no reliable effect on short-term recall. These results provide support for the position that deaf signers code signs from American Sign Language at one level in terms of linguistically significant formational parameters. The semantic and iconic information of signs, however, seems to have little effect on short-term memory.     

Effects of bilingualism, aging, and semantic relatedness on memory under divided attention.

We examined how encoding and retrieval processes were affected by manipulations of attention, and whether the degree of semantic relatedness between words in the memory and distracting task modulated these effects. We also considered age and bilingual status as mediating factors. Monolingual and bilingual younger and older adults studied a list of words from a single semantic category presented auditorily, and later free recalled them aloud. During either study or retrieval, participants concurrently performed a distracting task requiring size decisions to words from either the same or a different semantic category as the words in the memory task. The greatest disruptions of memory from divided attention (DA) were for encoding rather than retrieval. The effect of semantic relatedness was significant only for DA at encoding. Older age and bilingualism were associated with lower recall scores in all conditions, but these factors did not influence the magnitude of memory interference. The results suggest that encoding is more sensitive to semantic similarity in a distracting task than is retrieval. The role of attention at encoding and retrieval is discussed.     

Colorless green ideas (can) prime furiously

That similar words can prime one another is not news. However, this phenomenon can be exploited to make inferences about the organization of conceptual representations. What types of similarity matter? Although there is evidence that similarity of function, shape, and even manner of manipulation is reflected in semantic memory, evidence for organization on the basis of color similarity is sparse. This lack of evidence is surprising: Intuition suggests that color is a prominent feature of many object concepts. The research reported here clarifies this puzzle and illustrates the dynamic nature of conceptual representations. Our research demonstrates color-based priming (e.g., "emerald" primes "cucumber") in participants who completed a Stroop color-naming task before a priming task. Notably, the size of the Stroop effect predicted the size of the priming effect. When the order of tasks was reversed, priming effects were eliminated. By demonstrating that both extrinsic and intrinsic factors can influence conceptual activation, our findings have implications for theories of semantic memory.     

Development of visual,name, and conceptual memory codes for pictures

In a recognition memory task, 4-, 8-, and 16-year-olds quickly decided whether or not probe pictures were identical to remembered study pictures. Conceptual and visual, but not acoustic, confusion were evidenced by the longer latencies when probes were visually or conceptually related to study items than when unrelated or rhyming. Visual confusion arose only when seven or fewer pictures intervened between study and probe items, and the kinds of visual similarity that produced confusion changed with age. Conceptual confusion resulted only at longer lags, and the same kinds of conceptual relationships produced confusion at all ages. These findings are discussed in terms of the development of visual and semantic encoding processes.     

Interference between storage and processing in working memory: Feature overwriting,not similarity-based competition

Eight experiments with the complex span paradigm are presented to investigate why concurrent processing disrupts short-term retention. Increasing the pace of the processing task led to worse recall, supporting the hypothesis that the processing task distracts attention from maintenance operations. Neither phonological nor semantic similarity between memory items and processing-task material impaired memory. In contrast, the degree of phonological overlap between memory items and processing-task material affected recall negatively, supporting feature overwriting as one source of interference in the complex span paradigm. When compared directly, phonological overlap impaired memory, but similarity had a beneficial effect. These findings rule out response competition or confusion as a mechanism of interference between storage and processing.     

Age and redintegration in immediate memory and their relationship to task difficulty

It is commonly assumed that as short-term memory tasks become more difficult, a transient phonological trace that supports recall loses its fidelity. Recall can still be achieved through a process called redintegration, where long-term phonological or lexical knowledge is used to reconstruct the memory trace. In the present research, we explored age-related differences in the redintegration process by having older and younger participants study lists under different levels of task difficulty. As a means of examining the redintegration process, in Experiment 1, semantic similarity was manipulated, and in Experiment 2, phonological similarity was varied. The results show that similarity effects can be accurately predicted from knowledge of task difficulty with item scoring, but not with order scoring. The results support the redintegration perspective and indicate that although there may be differences in the absolute level of recall across age groups, the redintegration process is identical for younger and older participants.     

Selective phonemic and semantic coding in short-term recall

Probed recall of targets from six-word sequences containing either phonemically similar, semantically similar, or control (i.e., unrelated phonemically and semantically) stimuli was compared under two conditions of encoding. For the semantic encoding condition, in which all cues provided category information about targets to be recalled, semantic similarity interference effects and phonemic similarity facilitation effects were demonstrated. In the phonemic encoding condition, in which all targets were cued by words which rhymed with them, only phonemic similarity interference effects were found. These results were taken to provide further evidence contradictory to the coding-based dichotomization of primary and secondary memory, and to reflect the importance of selective coding strategies induced by task requirements as determinants of interference effects in short-term recall.     

Is knowledge base development a necessary and sufficient condition for memory development?

The hypothesis that knowledge base development is an important condition for memory development was tested in two experiments. In Experiment 1 subjects from grades K, 6, and college participated in an incidental learning task where they analyzed words according to one of four featural systems: physical, acoustic, semantic, and imagery. Large developmental differences in recall were found in the imagery and semantic conditions, small differences were observed in the acoustic conditions, and no developmental differences were found in the physical condition. Experiment 2 involved presenting college students and third graders words either from categories highly salient to third graders, e.g., cartoons, games, etc., or from corresponding Battig and Montague categories generated by college students. Free recall and clustering performances showed significant interactions, with third graders superior on the third-grade salient items, and college students superior on Battig and Montague items.     

The effect of presentation rate on categorization

Homogeneous experimental (acoustically and semantically related) and control lists were presented to different groups of subjects at either 1 s or 6 s per word. The difference score between these two lists was used as a measure of categorization. Only words in the middle serial positions (representing retrieval from secondary memory) were scored. Clustering was also measured.

Slow presentation rate significantly increased categorization of the semantically similar words. This was not true of acoustically similar words. A possible explanation of this is that semantic categorization is time-consuming and acoustic categorization is not. Alternatively, the acoustic similarity effect may be a retrieval effect. The absence of acoustic clustering would seem to fit in with this latter interpretation.     

汉字字形关联对错误记忆的影响

采用DRM范式,研究汉字字形关联对错误记忆的影响。实验以占汉字主体的形声字为材料。学习阶段使用了两类字表:在一半字表中,各字表内汉字及相应的关键诱饵具有相同形旁;另一半字表中,各字表内汉字及相应关键诱饵具有相同声旁。再认测试中,被试对两类关键诱饵均表现出了明显的错误记忆,并且其效应大小与字表汉字相似度成正比。这些结果说明,汉字的字形关联可以诱发错误记忆现象,并且这种错误记忆效应由汉字间字形相似度决定。     

The detection of semantic illusions: Task-specific effects for similarity and position of distorted terms

The effect of task demands on the detection of semantic illusions was investigated. In Exp. 1, subjects were given a detection task with different instructions for accuracy. Less illusions occurred under instructions that stressed accuracy, indicating strategic control of detection rates. In Exp. 2, sentences with dissimilar distorted terms resulted in shorter latencies than sentences with similar distorted terms in a detection task, but in longer response times in a question-answering task. In Exp. 3, the similarity effect was found to vary with the position of the distorted term in combination with task demands. In a verification task, the similarity effect did not differ for the beginning or the end of sentences. In a question-answering task, a significant similarity effect was observed only for distorted terms at the beginning of sentences. We argue that the results indicate minimal depth of semantic processing with respect to different task requirements. Implications for different theoretical accounts of semantic illusions are discussed.     

Active maintenance of semantic representations

In research on verbal working memory, articulatory rehearsal, a maintenance mechanism for phonological representations, has undergone intensive and excellent study. Possible mechanisms for semantic representation have received less attention. However, several studies have reported a double dissociation in types of memory deficits (semantic memory difficulties vs. phonological memory difficulties). This suggests the separability of two maintenance mechanisms. The present study focused on this separability in individuals with normal memory abilities, using a dual-task interference paradigm. The results indicate a crossover interaction between memory and interference task effects: Preventing articulatory rehearsal more strongly disrupted the phonological memory task, whereas performing a tapping task that interfered with attentional control more strongly disrupted semantic memory. These results suggest that semantic representations are actively maintained by a mechanism other than phonological maintenance.     

Three-step priming in lexical decision

In two experiments, we investigated mediated two-step priming (e.g., from LION to STRIPES via TIGER) and three-step priming (e.g., from MANE to STRIPES via LION and TIGER). Experiment 1 showed robust two-step priming in the double lexical decision task. In Experiment 2, we tested for three-step priming and investigated the possibility that it is not association strength based on free association, but frequency of co-occurrence, that causes three-step priming. Co-occurrence has been proposed as a measure of familiarity and semantic relatedness. Significant three-step priming was obtained. Lexical co-occurrence could not account for the effect. However, a more global measure of semantic similarity that includes the similarity of the contexts in which concepts occur revealed that the three-step pairs were semantically related. If this global measure provides a proper estimate of the semantic relatedness of our items, then three-step priming is consistent not only with spreading activation models, but also with distributed memory models and the compound cue model.     

Task-dependent modulation of word processing mechanisms during modified visual search tasks

During visual search for words, the impact of the visual and semantic features of words varies as a function of the search task. This event-related potential (ERP) study focused on the way these features of words are used to detect similarities between the distractor words that are glanced at and the target word, as well as to then reject the distractor words. The participants had to search for a target word that was either given literally or defined by a semantic clue among words presented sequentially. The distractor words included words that resembled the target and words that were semantically related to the target. The P2a component was the first component to be modulated by the visual and/or semantic similarity of distractors to the target word, and these modulations varied according to the task. The same held true for the later N300 and N400 components, which confirms that, depending on the task, distinct processing pathways were sensitized through attentional modulation. Hence, the process that matches what is perceived with the target acts during the first 200?ms after word presentation, and both early detection and late rejection processes of words depend on the search task and on the representation of the target stored in memory.     

The semantic‐similarity effect in children: Influence of long‐term knowledge on verbal short‐term memory

The present research was designed to highlight the relation between children's categorical knowledge and their verbal short‐term memory (STM) performance. To do this, we manipulated the categorical organization of the words composing lists to be memorized by 5‐ and 9‐year‐old children. Three types of word list were drawn up: semantically similar context‐dependent (CD) lists, semantically similar context‐independent (CI) lists, and semantically dissimilar lists. In line with the procedure used by Poirier and Saint‐Aubin (1995) , the dissimilar lists were produced using words from the semantically similar lists. Both 5‐ and 9‐year‐old children showed better recall for the semantically similar CD lists than they did for the unrelated lists. In the semantic similar CI condition, semantic similarity enhanced immediate serial recall only at age 9 but contributed to item information memory both at ages 5 and 9. These results, which indicate a semantic influence of long‐term memory (LTM) on serial recall from age 5, are discussed in the light of current models of STM. Moreover, we suggest that differences between results at 5 and 9 years are compatible with pluralist models of development.