Cue depreciation: when word fragment completion is undermined by prior exposure to lesser fragments

The ability to think of a previously studied item has often been shown to be impaired when, in one way or another, the extraitem context is changed from study to test. In a series of five experiments, such impairment is induced in a somewhat different way. A fragment (e.g. r-i--rop) of a just-studied word (raindrop) is shown to be less readily completed if it is presented bit by bit (r------p, r----r-p, r-i--r-p, r-i--rop) rather than all at once (Experiments 1, 3, 4, and 5). No such effect is found if the word has not been studied beforehand (Experiments 2, 3, 4, and 5). This pattern of results occurs even when fragments of studied and nonstudied words occur in the same test and under conditions in which subjects cannot tell whether a given fragment is of a studied or nonstudied word (Experiments 4 and 5). In addition, for words that have been studied beforehand, the impairment is shown to increase systematically with the number of steps involved in the presentation of the word fragment (Experiment 3) and also to persist when the time allowed for completion of the final version of the fragment is increased from 4 s to a full minute (Experiment 5).     

On the nonautomaticity of visual word processing: electrophysiological evidence that word processing requires central attention

The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to determine the degree to which people can process words while devoting central attention to another task. Experiments 1-4 measured the N400 effect, which is sensitive to the degree of mismatch between a word and the current semantic context. Experiment 5 measured the P3 difference between low- and high-frequency words. Because these effects can occur only if a word has been identified, both ERP components index word processing. The authors found that the N400 effect (Experiments 1, 3, and 4) and the P3 difference (Experiment 5) were strongly attenuated for Task 2 words presented nearly simultaneously with Task 1. No such attenuation was found when the Task 1 stimulus was presented but required no response (Experiment 2). Strong attenuation was also evident when the Task 2 word was presented before the Task 1 stimulus (Experiment 4), suggesting that central resources are not allocated to stimuli first-come, first-served but rather are strategically locked to Task 1. The authors conclude that visual word processing is not fully automatic but rather requires access to limited central attentional resources.     

The revelation effect: when disguising test items induces recognition

Documented here is a bias whereby items are more likely to be judged as having been presented beforehand if they are disguised in some way and so have to be discovered or "revealed." The bias was found for test words that were unfolded letter by letter (Experiments 1 and 3), presented with their letters either transposed (Experiments 2 and 3), or individually rotated (Experiments 4 and 5), or rotated as a whole (Experiment 5), and for test numbers that were presented in the form of roman numerals (Experiment 6) or equations (Experiment 7). The bias occurred both for items that were presented beforehand and for those that were not. No bias was found when words were judged, not for prior occurrence, but for typicality as category instances (Experiment 8), lexicality (Experiment 9), frequency of general usage (Experiment 10), or number of times encountered during the preceding week (Experiment 11).     

Retrieval-induced forgetting and mental imagery

In the present article, we present four experiments in which we examined whether mental imagery can initiate retrieval-induced forgetting. Participants were presented with word pairs (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or narratives (Experiment 4) and then engaged in selective mental imagery about half of the details from half of the categories. The results indicated that mental imagery can produce the same pattern of impairment as retrieval practice (Experiment 1) and postevent questioning (Experiment 4). Additionally, mental imagery-invoked, retrievalinduced forgetting was found for category cued recall (Experiments 1, 3, and 4) and cued recall (Experiment 2); it was found to dissipate across a 24-h delay, but only when there was no pre-delay test (Experiment 3). Such retrieval-induced forgetting was also found for imagining from the first-person and third-person perspectives (Experiment 4). From these findings, we suggest that the underlying retrieval processes behind mental imagery can initiate retrieval-induced forgetting. The findings are discussed in terms of inhibitory processes.     

The word superiority effect: A comparison between restricted and unrestricted alternative set

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the word superiority effect (WSE) (Reicher, 1969). The first two experiments used mixed presentations of words and nonwords, and positional uncertainty of the critical letter. Experiment 1 used an unrestricted set of alternatives, while Experiment 2 used only two alternatives (R and L). Experiment 3 compared letter detection in nonwords with a restricted and unrestricted alternative set. WSE was found for both Experiments 1 and 2, at about the same level. Experiment 3 showed superior performance when alternatives were known in advance. It was concluded that context has an effect on letter recognition even with prior knowledge of alternatives if the critical position is not known in advance. Some incompatibilities between the present results and those of other investigators in the field are discussed.     

Emotional arousal enhances word repetition priming

Three experiments were conducted to determine if emotional content increases repetition priming magnitude. In the study phase of Experiment 1, participants rated high-arousing negative (taboo) words and neutral words for concreteness. In the test phase, they made lexical decision judgements for the studied words intermixed with novel words (half taboo, half neutral) and pseudowords. In Experiment 2, low-arousing negative (LAN) words were substituted for the taboo words, and in Experiment 3 all three word types were used. Results showed significant priming in all experiments, as indicated by faster reaction times for studied words than for novel words. A priming × emotion interaction was found in Experiments 1 and 3, with greater priming for taboo relative to neutral words. The LAN words in Experiments 2 and 3 showed no difference in priming magnitude relative to the other word types. These results show selective enhancement of word repetition priming by emotional arousal.     

Priming of semantic classifications by novel subliminal prime words

Four experiments demonstrate category congruency priming by subliminal prime words that were never seen as targets in a valence-classification task (Experiments 1, 2, and 4) and a gender-classification task (Experiment 3). In Experiment 1, overlap in terms of word fragments of one or more letters between primes and targets of different valences was larger than between primes and targets of the same valence. In Experiments 2 and 3, the sets of prime words and target words were completely disjoint in terms of used letters. In Experiment 4, pictures served as targets. The observed subliminal priming effects for novel primes cannot be driven by partial analysis of primes at the word-fragment level; they suggest instead that primes were processed semantically as whole words contingent upon prime duration.     

The processing of lexical stress during visual word recognition: Typicality effects and orthographic correlates

Many studies that have examined reading at the single-word level have been restricted to the processing of monosyllabic stimuli, and, as a result, lexical stress has not been widely investigated. In the experiments reported here, we used disyllabic words and nonwords to investigate the processing of lexical stress during visual word recognition. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found an effect of stress typicality in naming and lexical decision. Typically stressed words (trochaic nouns and iambic verbs) elicited fewer errors than atypically stressed words (iambic nouns and trochaic verbs). In Experiment 3, we carried out an analysis of 340 word endings and found clear orthographic correlates of both grammatical category and lexical stress in word endings. In Experiment 4, we demonstrated that readers are sensitive to these cues in their processing of nonwords during two tasks: sentence construction and stress assignment. We discuss the implications of these findings with regard to psycholinguistic models of single-word reading.     

The processing of lexical stress during visual word recognition: typicality effects and orthographic correlates

Many studies that have examined reading at the single-word level have been restricted to the processing of monosyllabic stimuli, and, as a result, lexical stress has not been widely investigated. In the experiments reported here, we used disyllabic words and nonwords to investigate the processing of lexical stress during visual word recognition. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found an effect of stress typicality in naming and lexical decision. Typically stressed words (trochaic nouns and iambic verbs) elicited fewer errors than atypically stressed words (iambic nouns and trochaic verbs). In Experiment 3, we carried out an analysis of 340 word endings and found clear orthographic correlates of both grammatical category and lexical stress in word endings. In Experiment 4, we demonstrated that readers are sensitive to these cues in their processing of nonwords during two tasks: sentence construction and stress assignment. We discuss the implications of these findings with regard to psycholinguistic models of single-word reading.     

Implicit access to semantic information

Three experiments investigating the patient M.S.'s semantic memory are reported. Experiments 1 and 2 involved a category-membership decision task, in which M.S. was asked to determine whether a noun was a member of a specified semantic category. His performance in Experiment 1 was impaired for nouns from living categories in comparison with nouns from nonliving categories, and this impairment was especially marked for nouns of low typicality. Experiment 2 demonstrated an equivalent pattern of very poor performance to nouns of low familiarity from living categories. In Experiment 3 the effect of a category label on lexical decision was examined, using category labels as primes preceding nouns or pronounceable nonwords. Facilitation from related category label primes was found for typical and untypical members of living and nonliving semantic categories. These findings demonstrate that M.S. has impaired knowledge of the structure of living semantic categories when explicit access to this information is required (Experiments 1 and 2), but that some form of preserved category structure can be demonstrated in tasks which assess this implicitly (Experiment 3).     

When a ROWS is a ROSE: Phonological effects in written word comprehension

When skilled readers make speeded categorization judgements about printed words, errors occur to homophones of real category exemplars. In Experiments 1 and 2, for example, subjects incorrectly accepted both the word STEAL (as a member of the category A METAL) and the nonword JEAP (as A VEHICLE) significantly more often than incorrect non-homophonic items matched in orthographic similarity to real exemplars. Experiment 3 demonstrated equivalent error rates for homophone targets differing from real exemplars by various types of single-letter change, but reduced error rates, especially for non-word homophones, when subjects were instructed to accept only correctly spelled instances. Experiments 4 and 5 established that the magnitude of the homophone effect is predicted by the degree of orthographic similarity between homophonic mates but not by spelling-sound regularity of the presented homophone. The results suggest that automatic phonological activation plays a major role in the comprehension of written words.     

The role of category information in word identification: A parallel decision model

Four experiments consider the role of semantic category information in word identification using a serial classification reaction time paradigm. Experimental variables were manipulated by varying the semantic properties of blocks of trials and the target search instructions. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 investigated the facilitation on target word recognition of manipulating the categorical homogeneity of the nontarget words. An homogeneous nontarget set facilitated the classification of unrelated target words. This category contrast effect was obtained in all conditions, although its magnitude depended upon target search instructions. Experiment 3 also investigated whether word identification was inhibited if subjects were prevented from utilizing the category information to distinguish target from nontarget words. Target and nontarget word identification was slower under such conditions. Experiment 4 demonstratd that both the category contrast and category interference effects were dependent upon the use of short response-stimulus intervals to define a functional semantic background. This suggests the category effects are perceptual in nature. Current models of word recognition cannot easily explain the findings. A committee decision model is outlined to accommodate the data; the model proposes that visual analysis, identification, and categorization proceed in parallel.     

Inadequacy of recall as a basis for frequency knowledge.

Subjects studied a word list comprising varying numbers of words from distinct semantic categories. The category names (trees, colors, etc.) were then re-presented, and for each name subjects either recalled as many exemplars as they could or estimated how many had been included in the list (Experiments 1 and 2). Recall was not sufficiently informative about actual category sizes to account for performance in the frequency estimation task. Moreover, it remained insufficiently informative when efforts were made to induce a recall-estimate strategy by requiring overt recall prior to estimation (Experiments 3-5), by using very small categories (Experiment 4), and by not showing the category name at study (Experiment 5), even though it did allow a partial account of estimation when the category exemplars were individually cued (Experiment 6). It is concluded that the role of recall in frequency estimation is much exaggerated.     

Letter detection with rapid serial visual presentation: evidence against word superiority at feature extraction

Letter detection typically is faster and more accurate in words than nonwords. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 tested the robustness of the word superiority effect using rapid serial visual presentation of words or nonwords. Letter detection was better in words even when the six-letter items were presented one after the other at rapid rates, up to about 10 items per second. At yet faster rates, however, the word advantage vanished. Experiments 4 and 5 tested whether word context aids feature extraction or the subsequent interpretation stage. In Experiment 4, subjects had to discriminate whether a mutilated A or mutilated E was present; in Experiment 5, subjects had merely to decide whether a mutilated A was present. Mutilation discrimination in Experiment 4 was better on words than nonwords; once a mutilation was detected, the word context revealed whether it was an A or an E. Mutilation detection in Experiment 5 did not differ between words and nonwords, though on words there was a response bias toward not reporting a mutilation as present. The results indicate that familiarity aids the interpretation process alone: Letters are not seen any more clearly or rapidly in words, but are simply filled in or inferred more accurately from the familiar context.     

Why is word recognition impaired by disorientation while the identification of single letters is not?

Past research has shown that speed of identifying single letters or digits is largely indifferent to orientation, whereas the recognition of single words or connected text is markedly disrupted by disorientation. In a series of four experiments, we attempted to reconcile these findings. The results suggest that disorientation does not impair the identification of the characters but disrupts the perception of their spatial arrangement. When spatial order information is critical for distinguishing between different stimuli, disorientation is disruptive because some rectification process is required to restore order information. Utilizing the similarity between the letter B and the number 13, we found strong effects of orientation when a stimulus was interpreted as the two-digit number 13 but not when interpreted as the single letter B. This, however, occurred only when the set of numbers to be classified included permutations of the same digits (Experiments 1 and 2). Odd-even decisions on single-digit and two-digit numbers (Experiment 3) yielded strong effects of stimulus orientation for order-dependent numbers (e.g., 32), weaker effects for order-independent numbers (e.g., 24), and none for repeated-digit (e.g., 22) or single-digit numbers. Classification time for two-letter Hebrew words evidenced strong effects of orientation for words that differed only in letter order but much weaker effects for words that had no letters in common, even when these were embedded within some words that did (Experiment 4).     

Intention to learn influences the word frequency effect in recall but not in recognition memory

Watkins, LeCompte, and Kim (2000) suggested that the recall advantage for rare words in mixed lists is due to a compensatory study strategy that favors the rare words. They found the advantage was reversed when rare and common words were studied under incidental learning conditions. The present study investigated the possibility that the rare-word advantage in recognition memory is also the result of a compensatory study strategy. Experiment 1 replicated the findings of Watkins et al. that the rare-word advantage in recall is eliminated under incidental learning conditions. In contrast, Experiment 2 showed that the rare-word advantage in recognition memory is maintained under both intentional and incidental learning conditions. Experiment 3 replicated the results of Experiments 1 and 2 using different stimuli and a different orienting task. Finally, Experiment 4 showed that the rare-word advantage in recognition is maintained with pure lists. These findings show that the rare-word advantage in recognition memory is not the result of a compensatory study strategy. Instead, rare words are encoded more distinctively than common words, irrespective of participants' intention to remember them.     

Enhanced phonological facilitation and traces of concurrent word form activation in speech production: An object-naming study with multiple distractors

In the present study, we extended the classic picture–word interference paradigm by the presentation of multiple distractor words (Experiment 1) to reexamine whether the word forms of semantic alternatives receive activation in the course of object naming. Experiment 2 showed that phonological facilitation can be magnified by the presentation of multiple words that share overlapping initial and final segments with the target name. Experiments 3 and 4 tested for traces of nontarget phonological activation with multiple distractors, which enhances the chances of detecting such effects. These experiments revealed a consistent pattern of interference effects induced by words that were related to a semantic category member, consistent with theories assuming phonological activation of nontarget alternatives.     

Modes of word recognition in the left and right cerebral hemispheres

Four experiments are reported examining the effects of word length on recognition performance in the left and right visual hemifields (LVF, RVF). In Experiments 1 and 2 length affected lexical decision latencies to words presented in the LVF but not to words presented in the RVF. This result was found for both concrete and abstract nouns. Changing from a normal horizontal format to the use of unconventionally "stepped" words, however, produced length effects for words in both visual hemifields (Experiment 3). The Length x VHF interaction was found once again in Experiment 4 where subjects classified words as either concrete or abstract. A model proposing two modes of visual processing of letter strings is presented to account for these findings. Mode A operates independent of string length and is seen only in left hemisphere analysis of familiar words. Mode B is length dependent: it is the only mode possessed by the right hemisphere but is displayed by the left hemisphere to nonwords and to words in abnormal formats.     

Accommodating variability in voice and foreign accent: flexibility of early word representations

In six experiments with English‐learning infants, we examined the effects of variability in voice and foreign accent on word recognition. We found that 9‐month‐old infants successfully recognized words when two native English talkers with dissimilar voices produced test and familiarization items ( Experiment 1 ). When the domain of variability was shifted to include variability in voice as well as in accent, 13‐, but not 9‐month‐olds, recognized a word produced across talkers when only one had a Spanish accent ( Experiments 2 and 3 ). Nine‐month‐olds accommodated some variability in accent by recognizing words when the same Spanish‐accented talker produced familiarization and test items ( Experiment 4 ). However, 13‐, but not 9‐month‐olds, could do so when test and familiarization items were produced by two distinct Spanish‐accented talkers ( Experiments 5 and 6 ). These findings suggest that, although monolingual 9‐month‐olds have abstract phonological representations, these representations may not be flexible enough to accommodate the modifications found in foreign‐accented speech.     

The selection of grammatical features in word production: the case of plural nouns in German

Two experiments investigate the effect of number congruency using picture-word interference. Native German participants were required to name pictures of single objects (Nase 'nose') or two instances of the same object (Nasen 'noses') while ignoring simultaneously presented distractor words. Distractor words either had the same number or were different in number. In addition, the type of plural formation (same or different inflectional plural suffix) and the semantic relationship (same or different semantic category) between target and distractor were varied in Experiments 1 and 2. Results showed no effect of number congruency in either experiment. Furthermore, the type of inflectional suffix did not exert an influence on naming latencies in Experiment 1, but semantic relationship led to a significant interference effect in Experiment 2. The results indicate that selection of the number feature diacritic in noun production is not a competitive process. The implications of the results for models of lexical access are discussed.