Learning To Read Words

The ease with which we process the written word belies its complexities and makes it easy to forget that it is a highly skilled behaviour and one that takes time to master. In this paper, I argue that our ability to read words has its roots in our capacity for language. Good progress has been made towards understanding how children discover the systematic relationship between speech sounds and the letters used to represents those sounds, very early in reading development. However, we understand much less about how beginning readers become skilled readers. To understand this, I argue that it is important to view the visual word recognition system within the context of a broader language system, one that incorporates a rich network of semantic and episodic knowledge.     

Interference with prior knowledge while writing from sources: Effects of working memory capacity

Writing from sources requires the processing of both external (documentary) and internal (long-term memory; LTM) sources of information, which can sometimes interfere with each other. We hypothesised that writers with high working memory (WM) capacity would resolve interference faster than those with low-capacity WM. However, results showed that writing pause duration was shorter for low-capacity writers. This result suggests that when WM resources are limited, access to domain knowledge in LTM is restricted, thereby avoiding interference between the two sources. Results are discussed within the broader context of text composition from sources and individual differences.     

小学生阅读迁移机制的进一步研究--字词表征还是内容表征

探讨阅读文章难易程度与文章字词和内容在小学生篇章阅读迁移中的作用。被试分为阅读水平高、低两组。采用个别方式施测,以阅读时间和阅读准确性为阅读迁移的指标。结果表明,低水平组被试的篇章阅读迁移主要依赖词汇表征;高水平组被试的篇章阅读迁移主要依赖内容表征,换言之,容易文章主要以内容表征进行迁移;困难文章主要以词汇表征进行迁移。     

Memory encoding of stimulus features in human perceptual learning

Two experiments analysed memory encoding in human perceptual learning. Both experiments started with preexposure without feedback to four checkerboards composed by a unique feature each and sharing a common feature (AX, BX, CX, and DX). Elements of one pair were presented intermixed and elements of the other pair were presented in separate blocks. Immediately after preexposure participants completed a memory recognition task in which the characteristics of the distractors were manipulated. Experiment 1 showed that only intermixed presentation results in good encoding of the unique features of the stimuli. Experiment 2 demonstrated that intermixed preexposure results in different encoding of unique versus common features of the stimuli: Participants are able to remember A and B better than they remember X, whereas for the blocked condition memory for C, D, and X does not differ. Overall, the results presented here support the proposal that intermixing stimuli results in differential memory traces for unique versus common features and that this contributes to the intermixed/blocked effect.     

The representation of discourse in the two hemispheres: an individual differences investigation

Two experiments were conducted to investigate discourse representation in the two cerebral hemispheres as a function of reading skill. We used a lateralized visual-field procedure to compare left hemisphere (LH) and right hemisphere (RH) sensitivity to different discourse relations in readers with varying skill levels. In Experiment 1, we investigated two levels of discourse representation in memory: (a) the propositional representation and (b) the discourse model. We found that all readers were sensitive to propositional relations in the LH. In contrast, sensitivity to propositional relations in the RH increased as a function of reading skill. In addition, reading skill was positively related to topic relations in the LH, whereas it was negatively in the RH. In Experiment 2, we investigated propositional relations of different distances and again found that all readers were sensitive to propositional relations in the LH, whereas sensitivity to propositional relations in the RH was negatively related to reading skill. In general, reading skill appears to be associated with left-lateralized discourse representations.     

Beginning readers activate semantics from sub-word orthography

Two experiments assessed whether 7-year-old children activate semantic information from sub-word orthography. Children made category decisions to visually-presented words, some of which contained an embedded word (e.g., hip in ship). In Experiment 1 children were slower and less accurate to classify words if they contained an embedded word related in meaning to the category (e.g., slower to reject ship as a ‘body part’ than an ‘animal’), especially when the embedded word was higher in frequency than the carrier word. This demonstrates that young children activate semantic information from sub-word orthographic representations, and that they do so from the relatively early stages of learning to read. Experiment 2 replicated this effect. Furthermore, we observed semantic interference regardless of whether the embedded word shared its pronunciation with the carrier (e.g., the hip in ship) or not (e.g., the crow in crown), and regardless of its position within the carrier, suggesting that interference was not dependent on phonological mediation. These findings show that by 7-years-of age, children have begun to establish an orthographic system that is capable of activating sub-word orthographic patterns, strong enough to connect with meaning, when reading words silently.     

Opposing effects of age and reading ability on pseudoword priming

Repetition priming refers to the facilitation of stimulus processing due to prior processing of the same or similar stimulus, and is one of the most primitive ways in which experience and practice can affect performance. Previous studies have produced contradictory results regarding the stability of repetition priming across development. Drawing on models of word priming that suggest decreased priming with increased reading ability, the present experiment investigated the possibility that null effects of age in priming are due to opposing effects of age and reading ability on priming magnitude. Forty-eight participants between 7 and 22 years old read aloud primed and unprimed pseudowords, after completing a reading ability assessment. In line with predictions, the magnitude of priming for pseudowords increased with increased age when reading ability was controlled, and decreased with increased reading ability when age was controlled. Moreover, neither the age nor ability effect was significant when tested without the other. Results were not influenced by explicit memory for primed pseudowords. Thus, the present experiment provides evidence for developmental increases in word priming, as well as a potential explanation for the lack of developmental effects in previous studies.     

Basic processes in reading aloud and colour naming: Towards a better understanding of the role of spatial attention

Whether or not lexical access from print requires spatial attention has been debated intensively for the last 30 years. Studies involving colour naming generally find evidence that “unattended” words are processed. In contrast, reading-based experiments do not find evidence of distractor processing. One theory ascribes the discrepancy to weaker attentional demands for colour identification. If colour naming does not capture all of a subject's attention, the remaining attentional resources can be deployed to process the distractor word. The present study combined exogenous spatial cueing with colour naming and reading aloud separately and found that colour naming is less sensitive to the validity of a spatial cue than is reading words aloud. Based on these results, we argue that colour naming studies do not effectively control attention so that no conclusions about unattended distractor processing can be drawn from them. Thus we reiterate the consistent conclusion drawn from reading aloud and lexical decision studies: There is no word identification without (spatial) attention.     

汉语单音节和双音节词汇产生中的音韵编码过程：内隐启动范式研究

采取内隐启动范式研究汉语词汇产生中的音韵编码过程。实验一和二探测单字词产生中首音相同、韵和声调都相同时的启动效应,结果未发现首音启动效应,却发现了韵和声调相同时的抑制效应。实验三至五探测双字词产生中音节相同、声调相同以及音节和声调都相同时的促进效应,实验结果发现了显著的音节、音节和声调的促进效应,未得到显著的声调促进效应。上述结果表明,音节或“音节＋声调”是汉语词汇产生中的编码单元,音节促进效应发生在音韵编码水平;声调只是节奏框架的一部分,它只能与音节结合在一起才能起作用。结合汉语的特点讨论了研究结果,并与英语或荷兰语的研究结果进行了对比。最后提出了两种可能产生“韵母＋声调”抑制效应的原因,并讨论了记忆可能对实验结果产生的影响     

The relationship between knowing a word and reading it aloud in children’s word reading development

This experiment examined the item-level relationship between 7-year-olds’ ability to read words aloud and their knowledge of the same words in the oral domain. Two types of knowledge were contrasted: familiarity with the phonological form of the word (lexical phonology), measured by auditory lexical decision, and semantic knowledge, measured by a definitions task. Overall, there was a robust relationship between word knowledge and reading aloud success. The association was stronger when words contained irregular spelling-sound correspondences. There was no evidence that a deeper or more semantic knowledge of words was more closely related to reading aloud success beyond the association between reading success and familiarity with the phonological form of the same words. This finding is not compatible with models that see semantics as contributing directly to the reading aloud process, at least during the relatively early stages of reading development. More critical was whether or not a word was considered a lexical item, as indexed by auditory lexical decision performance.     

小学2-4年级儿童数学应用题表征策略对其解决不规则问题影响的研究

本研究运用实验法和临床访谈法对某普通小学的123名2-4年级学生进行了不规则数学应用题测验,以考察数学学优生和学差生在解决这些应用题时表征策略的差异。结果表明：（1）从2-4年级儿童解答条件多余和条件不足应用题上看,学优生的成绩要好于学差生,口头报告分析显示学优生较多地使用问题模型策略对问题进行表征,而学差生较多使用直接转换策略对问题进行表征;（2）在三年级时,条件多余和条件不足应用题的解题正确率有所提高,但到四年级时,正确率却有所下降;（3）在解决条件多余和条件不足应用题中,性别差异不显著。     

The time-course of recovery from interruption during reading: Eye movement evidence for the role of interruption lag and spatial memory

Two experiments examined how interruptions impact reading and how interruption lags and the reader's spatial memory affect the recovery from such interruptions. Participants read paragraphs of text and were interrupted unpredictably by a spoken news story while their eye movements were monitored. Time made available for consolidation prior to responding to the interruption did not aid reading resumption. However, providing readers with a visual cue that indicated the interruption location did aid task resumption substantially in Experiment 2. Taken together, the findings show that the recovery from interruptions during reading draws on spatial memory resources and can be aided by processes that support spatial memory. Practical implications are discussed.     

Brief Experimental Analysis: A Decision Tool for Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice

This special issue illustrates how brief experimental analysis (BEA) is gaining recognition as a valuable tool for making treatment decisions about children who are unresponsive to regular classroom instruction. This commentary article provides evidence for why BEA has grown in popularity, briefly summarizes each of the studies included in the series, and discusses issues that are critical to conducting and interpreting data from a BEA. The articles in the issue exemplify how BEA is flexible enough to evaluate diverse intervention options, is time and cost efficient, and is uniquely suited for use in a problem-solving approach to school-based service delivery.     

汉语单音节词汇产生中音韵编码的单元

采取图画一词汇干扰实验范式,以视觉方式呈现干扰单字、初步探索了汉语单音节词汇产生中音韵编码的单元。结果发现了在目标项和干扰词的音节相同和同音条件下都出现了促进效应,而在首音和声调相关、韵和声调相关、首音相关、韵相关、声调相关条件下都来出现显著的启动效应。这表明“音节”或“音节 声调”可能是词汇产生中语音编码表征的单元。最后讨论了英语和荷兰语的研究结果与汉语不同的原因。