Being forward not backward: lexical limits to masked priming

This study investigated whether masked priming is mediated by existing memory representations by determining whether nonwords targets would show repetition priming. To avoid the potential confound that nonword repetition priming would be obscured by a familiarity response bias, the standard lexical decision and naming tasks were modified to make targets unfamiliar. Participants were required to read a target string from right to left (i.e., "ECAF" should be read as "FACE") and then make a response. To examine if priming was based on lexical representations, repetition primes consisted of words when read forwards or backwards (e.g., "face", "ecaf") and nonwords (e.g., "pame", "emap"). Forward and backward primes were used to test if task instruction affected prime encoding. The lexical decision and naming tasks showed the same pattern of results: priming only occurred for forward primes with word targets (e.g., "face-ECAF"). Additional experiments to test if response priming affected the LDT indicated that the lexical status of the prime per se did not affect target responses. These results showed that the encoding of masked primes was unaffected by the novel task instruction and support the view that masked priming is due to the automatic triggering of pre-established computational processes based on stored information.     

Cutaneous saltation within and across arms: a new measure of the saltation illusion in somatosensation

A new objective procedure was used to measure the strength of cutaneous saltation, in order to clarify current debates about the nature of this illusion. Three taps were presented successively to three possible forearm locations. Participants attended to the middle location and reported whether a tap was perceived there. When all stimuli were delivered to the same arm and intertap intervals were short, participants were unable to distinguish real and illusory stimuli at the middle location. When both arms were stimulated, location judgments on one arm were shifted toward a tap subsequently delivered to the other arm. These results challenge the view that saltation is a purely attentional phenomenon, but they are inconsistent with the idea that this illusion is produced in the primary somatosensory cortex.     

Absence of lexical and orthographic effects in a same-different task

Two experiments are reported that investigate whether the lexical and orthographic effects typically found in a simultaneous matching task are due to the facilitating effect of linguistic context on letter identification. The first experiment used a delayed matching task (2-sec SOA), with serial incremental display of the letters of the second stimulus (e.g., B, BR, BRA, BRAI, BRAIN). Lexical and orthographic effects were clearly demonstrated when the letters of the second stimulus were displayed rapidly (40 msec/letter), but these effects were absent at a slower speed (400 msec/letter). The same results were obtained in a second experiment, in which the letters of both stimuli were synchronously presented at either the fast rate or the slow rate. These results were interpreted in terms of a multilevel race model that assumes no interaction between levels of processing and attributes the effects to differing degrees of decision-processing lag.     

Gods,Animals, and Artists: Some Problem Cases in Herder's Philosophy of Language

Theories in the behavioral sciences are constrained so that stated relationships are empirically testable and explanations have predictive power. These constraints constitute the classical paradigm, and are trivial just when ‘causal relationships’ do not hold. It appears that such relationships do not hold for linguistic, and presumably other, behaviors, thus precluding study within the classical paradigm. This compels study of those behaviors in terms of the non‐traditional approach to testability and explanation developed in Chomskyan linguistics. These constitute the grammatical paradigm. The existence of two paradigms requires that any inquiry begin by determining which paradigm is appropriate.     

Pragmatic and behavioral aspects of computerized tomographic scanning in epileptic patients

The computerized tomographic scan (CT) is a valuable method for screening the epileptic population. From the pragmatic standpoint, it is safe and nonpainful, and the cost is offset by its usefulness in uncovering and treating unexpected lesions such as brain tumors. In patients with brain tumors, CT scans are valuable for posttherapy follow-up and for determining the time for appropriate therapy in patients with minimal or no neurological deficits. The CT scan is far superior to routine skull x-ray and nuclear scan studies. Electroencephalography, the prime laboratory method for investigating epilepsy, is not as useful as the CT scan for demonstrating structural changes. In posttraumatic, postcerebrovascular accident and postinfectious patients, demonstration of the lesion is helpful from a behavioral standpoint, for understanding the patient’s psychological, emotional and cognitive difficulties. The psychological management of brain tumor patients is greatly aided by repeated CT scan studies.