Covert reading of letters in a case of global alexia

This study describes the case of a global alexic patient with a severe reading deficit affecting words, letters and Arabic numbers, following a left posterior lesion. The patient (VA) could not match spoken letters to their graphic form. A preserved ability to recognize shape and canonical orientation of letters indicates intact access to the representation of letters and numbers as visual objects. A relatively preserved ability to match lowercase to uppercase letters suggests partially spared access to abstract letter identities independently of their visual forms. The patient was also unable to match spoken letters and numbers to their visual form, indicating that she could not access the graphemic representations of letters from their phonological representations. This pattern of performance suggests that the link between graphemic and phonological representations is disrupted in this patient. We hypothesize that VA’ residual reading abilities are supported by the right hemisphere.     

Rapid word identification in pure alexia is lexical but not semantic

Following the notion that patients with pure alexia have access to two distinct reading strategies-letter-by-letter reading and semantic reading-a training program was devised to facilitate reading via semantics in a patient with pure alexia. Training utilized brief stimulus presentations and required category judgments rather than explicit word identification. The training was successful for trained words, but generalized poorly to untrained words. Additional studies involving oral reading of nouns and of functors also resulted in improved reading of trained words. Pseudowords could not be trained to criterion. The results suggest that improved reading can be achieved in pure alexia by pairing rapidly presented words with feedback. Focusing on semantic processing is not essential to this process. It is proposed that the training strengthens connections between the output of visual processing and preexisting orthographic representations.     

Age-of-acquisition effects in pure alexia

Pure alexia is an acquired reading disorder in which previously literate adults adopt a letter-by-letter processing strategy. Though these individuals display impaired reading, research shows that they are still able to use certain lexical information in order to facilitate visual word processing. The current experiment investigates the role that a word's age of acquisition (AoA) plays in the reading processes of an individual with pure alexia (G.J.) when other lexical variables have been controlled. Results from a sentence reading task in which eye movement patterns were recorded indicated that G.J. shows a strong effect of AoA, where late-acquired words are more difficult to process than early-acquired words. Furthermore, it was observed that the AoA effect is much greater for G.J. than for age-matched control participants. This indicates that patients with pure alexia rely heavily on intact top-down information, supporting the interactive activation model of reading.     

大脑视觉词形区及其在阅读神经网络中的作用

大脑梭状回中部被认为是视觉词形加工区(Visual Word Form Area, VWFA)。近年来的研究对VWFA的功能提出了质疑, 研究者开始关注VWFA作为复杂阅读网络的一部分与其它脑区的动态联结机制, 主要集中在三个方面：一是梭状回中部对于视觉词形选择性敏感的本质; 二是它在词汇阅读的神经网络中的作用; 最后是语言经验对于VWFA认知神经功能的塑造作用。结合以上研究的最新进展, 文中指明从动态神经网络的角度揭示大脑功能成为今后认知神经科学研究的最新取向。     

阅读中课文语境对汉语单词识别的影响

三项实验探讨了阅读中课文语境对单词识别的影响。实验一和二分别在两种课文呈现速度条件下,观察课文语境对词汇决策任务的影响,发现仅在较快的呈现速度(每隔150ms呈现一字)和目标词在前文语境中的可预测性为90％以上时,才产生课文语境的促进效应和抑制效应,并表现出抑制优势模式。实验三采用较自然的校对作业考察这种效应,结果显示在目标词高可预测(在前后文中的可预测性为83％以上)时,存在较显著的整体语境效应,并仍表现出抑制优势模式。据此,本文讨论了课文语境中的单词识别过程和语境对它的作用机制。     

Word recognition and face recognition following posterior cerebral artery stroke: Overlapping networks and selective contributions

It has been suggested that word- and face recognition rely on a common cerebral network for perceptual processing. To further explore this hypothesis, face- and word recognition were assessed in seven patients with focal lesions after stroke of the posterior cerebral artery in either hemisphere. The aim was to investigate if problems in face- and word recognition would co-occur, if testing was sensitive and patients were not pre-selected based on behavioural symptoms. Patients and matched controls were given a reading test and a delayed matching paradigm with faces, objects, and words. Interestingly, all patients with word recognition difficulties had problems in face recognition, independently of the affected hemisphere, supporting the existence of a bilateral perceptual network for faces and words. However, two patients showed selective face recognition problems after unilateral damage to either hemisphere, suggesting that parts of this network may be more critical for face than for word recognition.     

The Word Superiority Effect in central and peripheral vision

The Word Superiority Effect (WSE) is a well-known phenomenon in reading research, where words are reported more accurately than single letters or non-words. We report two experiments that investigate the WSE in the central and peripheral visual field, as well as laterality differences in the perception of words and letters, using methods based on the Theory of Visual Attention. The results show a WSE in the central visual field, reflected in mean scores, perception thresholds, and processing speed, whereas the effect is eliminated or reversed in the periphery. This may be caused by crowding, which prevents lexical analysis of a word in the periphery. We conclude that perception of words and letters differs according to location in the visual field. Linking our results to previous studies of crowding effects in patients with reading impairments, we hypothesize that similar mechanisms may limit normal word peripheral processing.     

中文阅读中词切分的认知机理述评

大量的认知科学研究表明, 词在阅读认知加工过程中起着非常重要的作用。因此在阅读中一个重要的过程就是把词从文本中切分出来。有别于英文等拼音文字, 中文文本的词之间没有空格分隔。在没有空格辅助的条件下, 中文阅读者是如何进行词的切分呢？本文主要综述了近期认知心理学和计算机科学领域针对该问题的研究进展, 主要包括：1)介绍了一些词作为整体进行加工的心理学证据; 2)报告了词切分的认知机理方面的研究现状和一个中文词切分和识别的模型; 3)简要回顾了计算机科学中的词切分研究, 并指出了与心理学中词切分研究的区别和联系; 4)提出了一些尚待解决的问题和研究展望, 这些问题的提出和解决将可能促进中文词切分的认知机理全面理解。     

汉语儿童英汉语语音意识和英语单词认读能力的关系

本研究考察了小学儿童语音意识和英语单词认读的关系。一系列相关和回归分析发现,英、汉语语音意识与英语单词认读有密切关系,但这种关系随年级变化而变化,英语语音意识对汉语儿童英语单词认读并不具有稳定的预测力;而且并不总是最有预测力的因素。结果说明,与英语本族语儿童相比,语音意识在汉语儿童的英语单词认读学习中起了不同的作用。     

Descartes,Scientia and Pure Enquiry

In Descartes: The Project of Pure Enquiry, Bernard Williams supplies an interpretation of Descartes's Meditations in which the meditator's clean sweep of initial beliefs is justified by a stance that abrogates all practical pressures: the stance of pure enquiry. Otherwise, Williams explains, it would not be reasonable to set many of the initial beliefs aside. Nowhere, however, does Descartes assert that his approach is in this sense ‘pure’. It would of course be preferable if the meditator's rejection of all the initial beliefs did not require an abrogation of the conditions that govern everyday belief-formation and assessment. I supply a reading that accomplishes this. The key to this reading is recognition that Descartes is a thinker of his time, a time when the pre-modern worldview was being systematically rejected. I show, in this regard, that when Descartes characterizes a belief as ‘uncertain’, this has the implication that the belief is false. And, certainly, the rational policy, without need for any special stance, is to reject falsehoods.     

中文阅读预视加工中的词频和预测性效应及其对词切分的启示:基于眼动的证据

研究采用眼动随动显示技术考察中文阅读预视加工中的词汇加工问题。前三项实验发现,剥夺预视加工的掩蔽条件、正确提示词n+1右侧边界的掩蔽条件以及不能提示词n+1右侧边界的掩蔽条件都不影响词频效应,说明中文读者对词n+1处文字的预视加工达不到词汇水平。实验4考察剥夺预视加工的掩蔽条件、提示词n+1右侧边界的掩蔽条件对预测性效应的影响,结果发现,剥夺预视加工完全消除预测性效应,提示词n+1右侧边界则减少预测性效应,说明对词汇的预期加工是中文读者切分词n+1的参考线索。综合4项实验结果可知,中文读者较难通过自下而上的文字识别切分词n+1,自上而下的词汇预期则是切分词n+1的加工形式。     

Phonological alexia with vowel-consonant dissociation in non-word reading

We present a patient with alexia secondary to cerebral lesion whose errors in the reading of non-words affect vowels more than consonants. The interest of the case resides in: (1) the documentation of a vowel-consonant dissociation selectively affecting the reading of non-words; and (2) the localization of the alteration in a specific stage of the perilexical reading pathway, that is, the blending of phonetic chains. The case contributes to the discussion on the nature of representations and the processing of vowels and consonants.     

词频与阅读方式对词跨行呈现效应的影响

通过使用眼动追踪技术,采用2（呈现条件：同行呈现、跨行呈现）×2（词频：高频、低频）×2（阅读方式：朗读、默读）的被试内实验设计,探讨了词频和阅读方式对词跨行呈现效应的影响。结果发现,呈现条件、词频和阅读方式的主效应显著,跨行呈现、低频和朗读的凝视时间和总注视时间更长、总注视次数更多;呈现条件之间在凝视时间上的差异,高频词大于低频词;呈现条件之间在凝视时间和总注视次数上的差异,朗读大于默读。结果表明,词跨行呈现干扰了阅读,且这种干扰作用受词频和阅读方式的影响。     

中文阅读中的字词激活模式:来自提示词边界延时效应的证据

研究采用眼动随动显示技术,通过操控提示正确/错误词边界线索的延迟时间,考察汉语阅读中汉字、词汇加工与词切分的时间特性。实验1发现,提示词n+1边界不影响总阅读时间,但能积极影响词兴趣区内的眼动数据,这种影响随着提示延迟时间的增加而逐步减弱;提示错误的词n+1的边界线索对总阅读时间的影响则随提示延迟时间的增加呈现倒"U"型的变化趋势。实验2发现,提示词n边界不影响总阅读时间,但却消极影响词兴趣区内的眼动数据,这种消极影响并没有随着提示延迟时间的增加而减弱;提示错误的词n边界对总阅读时间和眼动数据均产生消极的影响,且这种影响都随着提示延迟时间的增加而减弱。综合两项实验的结果可以推测,单一的向上反馈假设和整体假设都不能全面解释阅读中的字词加工过程,汉字加工与词汇加工间存在交互激活过程。     

中文阅读中快速读者与慢速读者的词频效应

在熟练的中文阅读中,个体阅读效率越高,词汇加工效率是否越高,目前还缺少直接证据。本研究通过记录快速读者与慢速读者在阅读含有高频或低频目标词句子时的眼动轨迹来考察该问题。结果发现,在第一遍注视时间、回视路径时间和总注视时间上,快速读者对高频词与低频词的注视时间无显著差异,但都短于慢速读者;而慢速读者对低频词的注视时间显著长于高频词。即快速读者的早期词汇识别和后期词汇整合效率都较高,不受词频影响;而慢速读者的整个词汇加工效率较低,受词频影响较大。这些结果表明两组读者的词汇加工模式具有本质差异,符合个体差异性观点与词汇质量假说。     

中文词汇切分对眼动数据的影响

该研究使用眼动研究中的“边界”技术范式,材料中的关键词为前两个字为双字词的三字词,如“服务员”,和非三字词,如“服务体”,考察可能存在的中文词汇切分策略对眼动时间指标的影响。实验使用2×2被试内设计,第一个因素是三字词的词频：高频和低频,第二个因素为不同词频条件下的非三字词基线。实验结果是三字词预视条件下的注视时间短于非三字词预视条件下的注视时间。结果表明自然阅读中的词汇切分策略确实存在,并且可以在眼动的时间指标上表现出来,结果还暗示在词汇切分过程中,读者在心理词典中对三字词的搜索是必需的过程。     

The effect of grammatical gender and semantic context on lexical access in Italian using a timed word-naming paradigm

The effects of sentence context and grammatical gender on lexical access were investigated in Italian using a timed word-naming paradigm. Large main effects of both sentence context and the gender of the article were observed; the interaction between gender and semantics was significant over subjects. Strong facilitation by both gender and semantics was observed, relative to a neutral-control baseline condition. Results are compared with (1) a prior study with the same design, using a picture-naming paradigm, except that objects described by written words were replaced by pictures (Bentrovato, Devescovi, D'Amico, & Bates, 1999); (2) a separate norming study of timed word reading in a list format, using the same stimuli (D'Amico, Devescovi, & Bates, 2001); and (3) a prior study of German comparing word and picture naming in short, semantically neutral phrases (Jacobsen, 1999). Differences in methodology and in findings between the Italian word naming and the German word naming are compared and discussed. Findings of the present study are interpreted in support of interactive-activation models in which different sources of information are combined on-line to predict, anticipate, or preactivate lexical targets.     

快慢读者利用语境信息的差异：加工深度的作用

通过主题扫描和阅读理解两种加工深度不同的任务,考察快慢读者预测性效应差异的来源及加工深度在其中发挥的作用。被试在两种任务情境下阅读分别包含高低预测性目标词的96个句子框架,记录其眼动轨迹。结果显示：预测性效应仅在阅读理解任务中出现,快速读者在早期眼动指标上就表现出了预测性效应,慢速读者在晚期眼动指标上才表现出预测性效应。结果表明：加工深度调节快慢读者预测性效应的大小;在自然阅读情境下快慢读者的预测性效应表现符合预测编码框架假设。     

语境预测性对阅读中字词加工过程的影响：眼动证据

研究包含3项实验,通过观察语境预测性与目标词汇的整词词频、词内汉字字频间交互作用,以探讨阅读中语境预测性如何影响中文词汇加工问题。研究以双字词为例,实验1操控目标词汇的语境预测性与整词词频,结果发现,语境预测性与整词词频交互作用不显著。实验2操控目标词汇的语境预测性与首字字频,结果发现,语境预测性与首字字频交互作用不显著。实验1和实验2的贝叶斯分析都倾向于支持交互作用不存在假设。实验3操控目标词汇的语境预测性与尾字字频,结果发现,语境预测性与尾字字频交互影响首次注视时间、凝视时间、总注视时间和再注视概率。由此可知,语境预测性与整词词频、首字字频变量相对独立地影响词汇加工;语境预测性直接影响词内汉字(尾字)的加工过程。     

发展性阅读障碍儿童的新词习得及其改善

本研究通过比较重复学习新词时个体眼动模式的变化, 探讨发展性阅读障碍儿童的新词习得及改善途径。实验1以发展性阅读障碍、生理年龄和阅读能力匹配儿童为被试, 采用重复学习新词的范式, 探讨发展性阅读障碍儿童的新词习得。结果发现, 与匹配组相比, 发展性阅读障碍儿童在新词的首次注视时间和凝视时间上需要更多的语境才出现显著下降, 且在总注视时间上表现出更缓慢的下降。表明发展性阅读障碍儿童的新词习得慢于正常儿童。实验2以词间空格和正常无空格两种文本呈现方式, 仍采用重复学习新词范式, 探讨词间空格是否能促进发展性阅读障碍儿童的新词习得。结果发现, 在词间空格条件下, 发展性阅读障碍儿童的新词习得可达到正常儿童的水平。表明作为视觉词切分线索的词间空格, 可促进发展性阅读障碍儿童的新词习得。本研究结果为发展性阅读障碍儿童新词习得提供了一条新的途径。