Are individual differences in masked repetition and semantic priming reliable?

Despite the robustness of semantic priming (e.g., cat–DOG), the test-retest and internal reliabilities of semantic priming effects within individuals are surprisingly low. In contrast, repetition priming (e.g., dog–DOG) appears to be far more reliable across a range of conditions. While Stolz and colleagues attribute the low reliability in semantic priming to uncoordinated automatic processes in semantic memory, their use of unmasked priming paradigms makes it difficult to fully rule out the influence of strategic processes. In the present study, we explored the reliability of semantic and repetition priming when primes were heavily masked and cannot be consciously processed. We found that masked repetition, but not semantic, priming effects showed some degree of reliability. Interestingly, skilled lexical processors (as reflected by vocabulary knowledge and spelling ability) also produced larger masked repetition priming effects.     

Are brand names special words? Letter visual-similarity affects the identification of brand names,but not common words

Brand names are often considered a special type of words of special relevance to examine the role of visual codes during reading: unlike common words, brand names are typically presented with the same letter-case configuration (e.g., IKEA, adidas). Recently, Pathak et al. (European Journal of Marketing, 2019, 53 , 2109) found an effect of visual similarity for misspelled brand names when the participants had to decide whether the brand name was spelled correctly or not (e.g., tacebook [baseword: facebook] was responded more slowly and less accurately than xacebook). This finding is at odds with both orthographically based visual-word recognition models and prior experiments using misspelled common words (e.g., viotin [baseword: violin ] is identified as fast as viocin ). To solve this puzzle, we designed two experiments in which the participants had to decide whether the presented item was written correctly. In Experiment 1, following a procedure similar to Pathak et al. (European Journal of Marketing, 2019, 53 , 2109), we examined the effect of visual similarity on misspelled brand names with/without graphical information (e.g., anazon vs. atazon [baseword: amazon ]). Experiment 2 was parallel to Experiment 1, but we focused on misspelled common words (e.g., anarillo vs. atarillo ; baseword: amarillo [yellow in Spanish]). Results showed a sizeable effect of visual similarity on misspelled brand names – regardless of their graphical information, but not on misspelled common words. These findings suggest that visual codes play a greater role when identifying brand names than common words. We examined how models of visual-word recognition can account for this dissociation.     

Silent letters and phonological priming

Many written English words contain silent letters. Omitting them produces nonwords pronounced identically to the original words, for example, SALM for PSALM and COLUM for COLUMN. We report two naming and two lexical decision experiments in which targets of 4–11 letters followed primes exposed for 100 ms in mask-prime-mask-target sequences. Priming in SALM-psalm and COLUM-column pairs exceeded priming in orthographic control pairs such as ASTA-pasta and COUSI-cousin, pairs in which pronounced letters are omitted to form the primes. SALM and COLUM, however, were less effective primes than PSALM and COLUMN. Results were discussed in terms of the phonological coherence hypothesis, the role of orthographic codes in filtering phonologically activated representations, and graphemes as reading units.     

Essential and Perceptual Attributes of Words in Reflective and On-line Processing

Access to essential and perceptual attributes of word meanings was investigated in a series of tasks. First, perceptual attributes of a number of natural kind concepts were determined by asking participants to generate the most salient features of those concepts; they were asked to assess the importance of both those features and features that fit criteria for essential attributes. Attributes fitting the criteria for essential attributes were found to be judged more important than perceptual attributes in identifying an object and to have more connections to other attributes of the concept. Semantic priming for both types of features was then investigated. Prime-target pairs consisting of the natural kind concept term and the perceptual or essential attribute were presented for lexical decision (Experiments 1a and 1b) or naming (Experiments 2a and 2b). Interstimulus intervals were either 0 or 200 ms. Both types of features were primed at a 200 ms interstimulus interval but only in the lexical decision task.     

Effects of Practice upon the Metabolic Cost of Mental Work

Two experiments with isopods, Armadillidium vulgare, were reported. In Experiment I, two groups of five Ss each learned to run a T maze to escape light and heat. Both original learning (OL), and relearning (RL) the next day, were to a criterion 9/10 correct. Between OL and RL one group was immobilized (I), and the other group was given the opportunity for activity (A). The I treatment resulted in greater savings on RL than did the A treatment, and it was thus concluded that A is a retroaction treatment. Experiment II was like I except that all Ss were extinguished immediately following OL, and then given either A or I until RL. In this experiment, the A treatment led to no savings, but the I treatment produced negative savings (more trials on RL relative to OL). It was concluded that the A treatment had retroactively interfered with extinction, and this result was discussed as analogous to differential spontaneous recovery in favor of the A group. It was concluded that Liberman's (4, 5) theory (that spontaneous recovery is due to the forgetting of extinction) is supported by the result of Experiment II.     

Word Meaning Frequencies Affect Negative Compatibility Effects In Masked Priming

Negative compatibility effects (NCEs)—that is, slower responses to targets in related than unrelated prime-target pairs, have been observed in studies using stimulus-response (S-R) priming with stimuli like arrows and plus signs. Although there is no consensus on the underlying mechanism, explanations tend to locate NCEs within the motor-response system. A characteristic property of perceptuo-motor NCEs is a biphasic pattern of activation: A brief period in which very briefly presented (typically) masked primes facilitate processing of related targets is followed by a phase of target processing impairment. In this paper, we present data that suggest that NCEs are not restricted to S-R priming with low-level visual stimuli: The brief (50 ms), backward masked (250 ms) presentation of ambiguous words (bank) leads to slower responses than baseline to words related to the more frequent (rob) but not less frequent meaning (swim). Importantly, we found that slowed responses are preceded by a short phase of response facilitation, replicating the biphasic pattern reported for arrows and plus signs. The biphasic pattern of priming and the fact that the NCEs were found only for target words that are related to their prime word’s more frequent meaning has strong implications for any theory of NCEs that locate these effects exclusively within the motor-response system.     

PHONOLOGY IN THE LEXICAL PROCESSING OF CHINESE: PRIMING TONE NEIGHBOURS

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Effects of thematic and lexical priming on readers' eye movements

The study was inspired by Ehrlich & Rayner (1981). In the study semantic context effects were investigated during on-line discourse processing. Readers' eye movements were registered to see whether words that were semantically closely related to the global theme of the text were read faster than words that did not have any apparent semantic link to the discourse theme. In addition, lexical priming was examined by presenting an identity prime earlier in the text. The results showed that non-thematic words were regressed to more often than thematic words. Regressions were typically initiated after reaching a clause or sentence boundary. Regressions were thus assumed to be made in order to integrate non-thematic words into the previous context. Modest negative correlations were found between word's fixation time and its relative predictability. No effects of lexical priming were observed. It was concluded that moderately constraining discourse contexts produce negligible effects on word recognition.     

The Role of Short-Term Memory in Semantic Priming

Two theories of priming were compared: spreading activation theories, in particular ACT* (J. R. Anderson, 1983), and compound-cue theories (R. Ratcliff & G. McKoon, 1988). Whereas ACT* assumes that priming is a result of diffusing activation in long-term memory, compound-cue models suggest that priming results from a formation process of prime and target in short-term memory. Thirty-eight participants took part in a study that combined a digit span task with a double lexical decision task consisting of a prime and a target item. Digit span length (low, medium, and high) and prime type (related or unrelated word or nonword) were both within-subject variables. As expected, results showed significant priming effects. In favor of ACT*, no interaction between digit span length and prime type was found. Additionally, a nonword inhibition effect (unrelated versus nonword prime) was found, which was predicted by compound-cue theories. This finding is discussed in terms of the process interference and response competition hypotheses.     

不同任务类型对熟练维汉双语者跨语言启动不对称性的影响

采用两种不同的任务类型对熟练维汉双语者跨语言掩蔽翻译启动效应进行考察,结果发现,在词汇决定任务中,熟练维汉双语者在L1-L2和L2-L1两个方向上均表现出了掩蔽翻译启动效应,但L1-L2方向远大于L2-L1方向,即掩蔽翻译启动效应具有不对称性。而在语义分类任务中,熟练维汉双语者在两个方向上表现出的翻译启动效应量相近,具有对称性。结果支持Kroll的修正层级模型。     

Linking sight and sound: fMRI evidence of primary auditory cortex activation during visual word recognition

We describe two studies that used repetition priming paradigms to investigate brain activity during the reading of single words. Functional magnetic resonance images were collected during a visual lexical decision task in which nonword stimuli were manipulated with regard to phonological properties and compared to genuine English words. We observed a region in left-hemisphere primary auditory cortex linked to a repetition priming effect. The priming effect activity was observed only for stimuli that sound like known words; moreover, this region was sensitive to strategic task differences. Thus, a brain region involved in the most basic aspects of auditory processing appears to be engaged in reading even when there is no environmental oral or auditory component.     

Phonology in the Lexical Processing of Chinese: Priming Tone Neighbors

Using both visual-visual and auditory-visual priming lexical decision tasks, this study investigated phonological processing in reading logographic Chinese. Compound words sharing segmental templates but differing in lexical tones were used as primes and targets while their relative frequency was manipulated. It was found that tone neighbours did not prime each other significantly and the SOA of 100 msec in visual-visual priming. When the SOA was increased to 357 msec, or when primes were presented auditorily, the processing of target words was significantly delayed by their tone neighbours. Larger inhibitory effects were observed for low frequency targets with high frequency primes. It was argued that although phonological information is automatically activated and this activation affects access to semantics in reading Chinese,phonological mediation is not the only or the main ~urce of constraints on semantic activation.     

阈下知觉的加工水平及其发生条件—— 基于视觉掩蔽启动范式的视角

Dehaene等(1998)和Greenwald等(1996)的研究通过在方法上的完善, 为阈下知觉的存在提供了确凿的证据。但是阈下知觉可以达到什么样的深度这一问题尚仍然存在争议, 有研究者认为阈下知觉可以达到语义加工的水平, 而有的研究者认为阈下知觉只是对刺激视觉特征的一种浅层加工, 并形成了一些非语义加工的假说。在以往研究的基础上, 本研究通过完善实验范式, 分别采用图片、字词作为实验材料对阈下知觉的深度和影响因素进行探讨。实验1和实验2立据于阈下非语义加工的各种理论, 为阈下语义加工的存在提供了证据。同时实验2表明, 阈下知觉达到的水平取决于靶子集的大小, 更确切的说取决于被试对靶刺激进行了何种水平的加工。