Oral reading in dementia

Reading has been thought to consist of three main processing components: the orthographic, phonological, and semantic lexicons. In traditional psycholinguistic models, these components have been treated independently such that the selective dysfunction of one does not necessarily imply the breakdown of another. Recently, it has been proposed that a word's semantic representation is essential to oral reading such that a disturbance within the semantic lexicon will disrupt processing within the orthographic and/or phonological lexicons. From this view, semantic deterioration should lead to fragmentation of the other systems contributing to reading, resulting in a specific pattern of errors during oral reading. This would include (1) a larger than normal advantage for reading words with regular spelling-to-sound correspondence over words with exception spelling, as well as the production of "regularization errors" when reading exception words; and (2) a smaller than normal difference between reading real words and pronounceable nonwords, or pseudowords (PW's). We found that patients with Semantic Dementia generally conformed to these hypothesized patterns of reading difficulty. Despite the presence of a semantic impairment, however, patients with Alzheimer's Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Progressive Non-Fluent Aphasia did not demonstrate these patterns of reading difficulty. Our findings suggest that not all semantic impairments invariably lead to the disruption of the orthographic and phonological lexicons.     

Memory for sentences and noun phrases of extreme depth

Memory for orally presented noun phrases and sentences was investigated in two experiments. Syntactic depth (D) of the phrases and sentences was varied with D approaching the values of 7 ± 2. Consistent with recent investigations, these studies found D not to be generally related to recall of sentences, phrases, or individual words within sentences. However, recall of individual words from an adverbial noun phrase apparently was related to D. The apparent relationship is accounted for not by depth of individual words, but in terms primarily of superior noun retention and its interaction with serial position effects. In addition, conditional recall probabilities for another type of phrase, a noun phrase with prenominal adjectives, indicate stronger relationships between adjectives and the noun than between successive adjectives. It is concluded that the Yngve grammar is deficient as a psycholinguistic model.     

Brain activations associated with sign production using word and picture inputs in deaf signers

Effective literacy education in deaf students calls for psycholinguistic research revealing the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying their written language processing. When learning a written language, deaf students are often instructed to sign out printed text. The present fMRI study was intended to reveal the neural substrates associated with word signing by comparing it with picture signing. Native deaf signers were asked to overtly sign in Chinese Sign Language (CSL) common objects indicated with written words or presented as pictures. Except in left inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule where word signing elicited greater activation than picture signing, the two tasks engaged a highly overlapping set of brain regions previously implicated in sign production. The results suggest that word signing in the deaf signers relies on meaning activation from printed visual forms, followed by similar production processes from meaning to signs as in picture signing. The present study also documents the basic brain activation pattern for sign production in CSL and supports the notion of a universal core neural network for sign production across different sign languages.     

The influence of learning methods on collaboration: prior repeated retrieval enhances retrieval organization, abolishes collaborative inhibition, and promotes post-collaborative memory

Research on collaborative memory has unveiled the counterintuitive yet robust phenomenon that collaboration impairs group recall. A candidate explanation for this collaborative inhibition effect is the disruption of people's idiosyncratic retrieval strategies during collaboration, and it is hypothesized that employing methods that improve one's organization protects against retrieval disruption. Here it is investigated how one's learning method during the study phase--defined as either repeatedly studying or repeatedly retrieving information--influences retrieval organization and what effects this has on collaborative recall and post-collaborative individual recall. Results show that repeated retrieval consistently eliminated collaborative inhibition. This enabled participants to gain the most from re-exposure to materials recalled by their partners that they themselves did not recall and led to improvements in their individual memory following collaboration. This repeated retrieval advantage stemmed from the preferential manner in which this learning method strengthened retrieval organization. Findings are also discussed that reveal a relationship between retrieval organization and the interaction observed between learning method and short versus long delay seen in the testing effect literature. Finally, results show that the elusive benefits of cross-cuing during collaboration may be best detected with a longer study-test delay. Together, these findings illuminate when and how collaboration can enhance memory.     

Immediate and delayed recall of a small-scale spatial array

The study examined people's spatial memory of a small-scale array of objects. Earlier work has primarily relied on short-retention intervals, and to date it is not known whether performance is affected by longer intervals between learning and recall. In the present investigation, university students studied seven target objects. Recall was tested immediately after learning and after an interval of seven days. Performance was found to be similar in the immediate and delayed conditions, and the results suggested that recall was facilitated by egocentric and intrinsic cues. The findings are discussed with reference to recent investigations that have shown task parameters can influence spatial recall.     

Spoken Language Activation Alters Subsequent Sign Language Activation in L2 Learners of American Sign Language

A large body of literature has characterized unimodal monolingual and bilingual lexicons and how neighborhood density affects lexical access; however there have been relatively fewer studies that generalize these findings to bimodal (M2) second language (L2) learners of sign languages. The goal of the current study was to investigate parallel language activation in M2L2 learners of sign language and to characterize the influence of spoken language and sign language neighborhood density on the activation of ASL signs. A priming paradigm was used in which the neighbors of the sign target were activated with a spoken English word and compared the activation of the targets in sparse and dense neighborhoods. Neighborhood density effects in auditory primed lexical decision task were then compared to previous reports of native deaf signers who were only processing sign language. Results indicated reversed neighborhood density effects in M2L2 learners relative to those in deaf signers such that there were inhibitory effects of handshape density and facilitatory effects of location density. Additionally, increased inhibition for signs in dense handshape neighborhoods was greater for high proficiency L2 learners. These findings support recent models of the hearing bimodal bilingual lexicon, which posit lateral links between spoken language and sign language lexical representations.     

The role of orthography in speech production revisited

The language production system of literate adults comprises an orthographic system (used during written language production) and a phonological system (used during spoken language production). Recent psycholinguistic research has investigated possible influences of the orthographic system on the phonological system. This research has produced contrastive results, with some studies showing effects of orthography in the course of normal speech production while others failing to show such effects. In this article, we review the available evidence and consider possible explanations for the discrepancy. We then report two form-preparation experiments which aimed at testing for the effects of orthography in spoken word-production. Our results provide clear evidence that the orthographic properties of the words do not influence their spoken production in picture naming. We discuss this finding in relation to psycholinguistic and neuropsychological investigations of the relationship between written and spoken word-production.     

Sign recall by hearing signers: Evidences of dual coding

Deaf participants' sign recall is affected by sign similarity, sign length, irrelevant signing and manual articulatory suppression, suggesting the existence of a phonological loop for signs. In two experiments we explore whether hearing signers (who have learned Spanish Sign Language as second language) use a phonological loop for signs, whether they use their phonological loop for words or whether they use both when recalling sign lists. Articulatory suppression (manual and vocal) and list similarity (word similarity and sign similarity) were manipulated in two experiments. Results clearly suggest that our participants recode orally the signs and use those representations to recall sign lists, but visuospatial information is also used in this task.     

Generalizing everyday memory: Signs and handedness

Memory for frequently encountered road signs was investigated. In Experiment 1, the average level of recall of road sign features was found to be only 47%. In Experiment 2, more left-handed than righthanded people recalled that a walking figure faces right on one sign, whereas more right-handed than left-handed people recalled that a digging figure faces left on another sign. Performance thus reflected not a difference in level of mnemonic ability between left-handed and right-handed groups but instead the compatibility between group and task. In Experiment 3, participants were asked to draw any figure walking and any figure digging, with a pattern of results similar to that of Experiment 2. It is suggested that handedness effects in recall are mediated by motor imagery.     

TOWARD VERIFYING THE ASSUMPTIONS OF LABORATORY-INDUCED SLIPS OF THE TONGUE: THE OUTPUT-ERROR AND EDITING ISSUES

During the second half of the past decade, psycholinguistic models of speech production have been modified to include a “prearticulatory editing” component, the supposed function of which is to verify the linguistic integrity of impending phoneme strings destined for articulation. Empirical support for psycholinguistic editing comes primarily from studies by the present authors on laboratory-induced verbal slips. All of these studies have depended upon two crucial claims: that laboratory slips are errors of output, and that error-rate differentials are evidence of editing. Recently, however, it has been recognized that neither of these assumptions has been convincingly demonstrated, and consequently the editing models instigated by the earlier studies are being reassessed. The present study tested these two assumptions directly. The output-error assumption was supported by finding larger Galvanic Skin Resistance (GSR) responses for verbal slips than for correct vocalizations. The editing assumption was supported by finding that presumably edited vocal responses (identified by GSR) require more processing time (i.e., vocal response latency) than unedited responses. The reasoning from the empirical observations to conclusions about these assumptions is discussed in detail. Secondarily, a hypothesized social acceptability editing criterion was supported by the observation that neutral verbal slips outnumber taboo counterparts.     

Subjective frequency ratings for 432 ASL signs

Given the importance of lexical frequency for psycholinguistic research and the lack of comprehensive frequency data for sign languages, we collected subjective estimates of lexical frequency for 432 signs in American Sign Language (ASL). Our participants were 59 deaf signers who first began to acquire ASL at ages ranging from birth to 14 years old and who had a minimum of 10 years of experience. Subjective frequency estimates were made on a scale ranging from 1 = rarely see the sign to 7 = always see the sign. The mean subjective frequency ratings for individual signs did not vary in relation to age of sign language exposure (AoLE), chronological age, or length of ASL experience. Nor did AoLE show significant effects on the response times (RTs) for making the ratings. However, RTs were highly correlated with mean frequency ratings. These results suggest that the distributions of subjective lexical frequencies are consistent across signers with varying AoLEs. The implications for research practice are that subjective frequency ratings from random samples of highly experienced deaf signers can provide a reasonable measure of lexical control in sign language experiments. The Appendix gives the mean and median subjective frequency ratings and the mean and median log(RT) of the ASL signs for the entire sample; the supplemental material gives these measures for the three AoLE groups: native, early, and late.     

The phonological similarity effect in serial recognition

An experiment is reported examining the effect of consistent phonemic similarity among list items on memory retention in a task that is independent of overt speech production, the serial recognition task. Lists of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words and nonwords were constructed such that although phoneme overlap was manipulated (i.e., shared vowel and final consonant [_VC], initial consonant and vowel [CV_], or the two consonants [C_C]), similarity remained constant. The results show that the influence of sub-syllabic mechanisms on STM performance is independent of speech production processes, and similarity in the pattern of results suggests that the same mechanisms subserve the recall of words and nonwords in STM. It is argued that the results are more consistent with psycholinguistic models than nonlinguistic models of STM, and implications for current STM models are discussed.     

The phonological similarity effect in serial recognition

An experiment is reported examining the effect of consistent phonemic similarity among list items on memory retention in a task that is independent of overt speech production, the serial recognition task. Lists of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words and nonwords were constructed such that although phoneme overlap was manipulated (i.e., shared vowel and final consonant [_VC], initial consonant and vowel [CV_], or the two consonants [C_C]), similarity remained constant. The results show that the influence of sub-syllabic mechanisms on STM performance is independent of speech production processes, and similarity in the pattern of results suggests that the same mechanisms subserve the recall of words and nonwords in STM. It is argued that the results are more consistent with psycholinguistic models than nonlinguistic models of STM, and implications for current STM models are discussed.     

Is language acquired through imitation?

The role of imitation in language acquisition is examined, including data from the psycholinguistic, operant, and social learning areas. From the psycholinguistic data, four empirical statements have been extracted: (1) there is no evidence that spontaneous imitations of adult speech influence grammatical development, (2) imitation of speech does not appear to occur with frequency beyond age 3 years, (3) speech and hence imitation are not necessary for the comprehension of linguistic structures, and (4) most utterances of a child are novel and therefore could not have been exactly modeled. The first and second propositions are seen to be based on a too restrictive definition of imitation-immediate and exact copying. Selective imitation-a functional relationship involving similarity of a particular form or function of the model's responses-is proposed as an alternative, thus leaving the validity of statements (1) and (2) in question. Concerning assertion (4), certain data from the operant literature are presented as evidence of the compatibility of novel responding and modeling, imitation, and reinforcement. Finally, it is proposed that statement (3) suggests a mechanism by which selective imitation can be understood. A three-stage process is proposed in which comprehension of a grammatical form sets the stage for selective imitation of that structure, which leads in turn to spontaneous production. Thus imitation is a process by which new syntactic structures can be first introduced into the productive mode.     

Metacognitive illusions for auditory information: Effects on monitoring and control

Prior work has demonstrated that the perceptual features of visually presented stimuli can have a strong influence on predictions of memory performance, even when those features are unrelated to recall (Rhodes & Castel, 2008). The present study examined whether this finding would hold in an auditory domain and influence study-choice allocation. Participants listened to words that varied in volume, made judgments of learning (JOLs) for each item, and were then administered a test of free recall. In Experiment 1, we showed that JOLs were influenced by volume, with loud words given higher JOLs than quiet words, and that volume had no influence on recall, illustrating a metacognitive illusion based on auditory information. In Experiment 2, we extended these findings to control processes and showed that participants were more likely to choose to restudy quiet words than loud words. These findings indicate that highly accessible auditory information is integrated into JOLs and restudy choices, even when this information does not influence actual memory performance.     

Learning times for large lexicons through cross-situational learning

Cross-situational learning is a mechanism for learning the meaning of words across multiple exposures, despite exposure-by-exposure uncertainty as to a word's true meaning. Doubts have been expressed regarding the plausibility of cross-situational learning as a mechanism for learning human-scale lexicons in reasonable timescales under the levels of referential uncertainty likely to confront real word learners. We demonstrate mathematically that cross-situational learning facilitates the acquisition of large vocabularies despite significant levels of referential uncertainty at each exposure, and we provide estimates of lexicon learning times for several cross-situational learning strategies. This model suggests that cross-situational word learning cannot be ruled out on the basis that it predicts unreasonably long lexicon learning times. More generally, these results indicate that there is no necessary link between the ability to learn individual words rapidly and the capacity to acquire a large lexicon.     

Does brand spelling influence memory? The case of auditorily presented brand names

We present a framework based on psycholinguistic theory to explain how individuals spell auditorily-presented information. We use the framework to predict and test how spelling-related characteristics of brand names and factors related to the context in which brand names are presented (e.g., spelling primes) will make the brands more or less memorable. Further, we reveal the process through which spelling-related linguistic variables influence brand recall: the dual-code (both written and auditory) that results from spelling a brand correctly leads to greater ability to later recall the brand. Our framework identifies two routes that interact when individuals have to transcribe a brand: the lexical (top-down) route and the sublexical (bottom-up) route.     

Effects of lexical competition on immediate memory span for spoken words

Current theories and models of the structural organization of verbal short-term memory are primarily based on evidence obtained from manipulations of features inherent in the short-term traces of the presented stimuli, such as phonological similarity. In the present study, we investigated whether properties of the stimuli that are not inherent in the short-term traces of spoken words would affect performance in an immediate memory span task. We studied the lexical neighbourhood properties of the stimulus items, which are based on the structure and organization of words in the mental lexicon. The experiments manipulated lexical competition by varying the phonological neighbourhood structure (i.e., neighbourhood density and neighbourhood frequency) of the words on a test list while controlling for word frequency and intra-set phonological similarity (family size). Immediate memory span for spoken words was measured under repeated and nonrepeated sampling procedures. The results demonstrated that lexical competition only emerged when a nonrepeated sampling procedure was used and the participants had to access new words from their lexicons. These findings were not dependent on individual differences in short-term memory capacity. Additional results showed that the lexical competition effects did not interact with proactive interference. Analyses of error patterns indicated that item-type errors, but not positional errors, were influenced by the lexical attributes of the stimulus items. These results complement and extend previous findings that have argued for separate contributions of long-term knowledge and short-term memory rehearsal processes in immediate verbal serial recall tasks.     

Anagram software for cognitive research that enables specification of psycholinguistic variables

Anagram tasks are frequently used in cognitive research, and the generation of new scrambled letter combinations is a task well suited to a software solution. Most available programs, however, do not allow experimenters to generate new anagrams flexibly or to characterize existing anagrams using psycholinguistic criteria. They also do not provide detailed information on their source dictionaries. We present anagram software that interfaces with CELEX2, an internationally recognized psycholinguistic database. This software allows users to capitalize on lexical variables and thus enables direct control of psycholinguistic features that may influence the cognitive processes involved in anagram solution.