On access representation in visual word recognition: The temporal separation technique

Summary This paper examines the evidence for an access representation based on the initial part of the word. A temporal separation technique, which presents test words in two parts, was used, and varied as to whether the first part included two, three, or four initial letters of a word. In contrast with previous studies, word-frequency effects were used to assess whether access had occurred from that initial part. Experiment 1 (in English) tested the validity of the temporal separation technique, and showed that it does impose an input segmentation. Experiments 2 (in English) and 3 (in Spanish) examined whether access to a monomorphemic word is achieved, using word frequency as a diagnostic of access. The implications of the findings for the notion of a partial input representation for access are discussed.     

On the autonomy of phonological encoding: Evidence from slips of the tongue in Spanish

The present study focuses on the relationship between the processes of lexical retrieval and phonological encoding in sentence production. An analysis of spontaneous slips of the tongue in Spanish reveals that (1) there is as yet no clear evidence for a lexical bias effect on sublexical errors (segment movement and substitution), and hence for positive feedback from phonological encoding to the level of lexical representation; and (2) meaning and form appear to be largely dissociated in lexical errors, which lends support to the hypothesis that lexical retrieval proceeds in two independent stages during sentence production. These findings are discussed in the light of two alternative accounts of language production mechanisms: the interactive activation model and the structural, processing-stages model.This research has been supported by grant no. PB87-0531 from the Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica, Spanish Ministry of Education. We thank Kathryn Bock, Gary Dell, and David Swinney for helpful comments and discussion.     

The effects of ventriloquism on the right-side advantage for verbal material

Subjects were asked to recall one of two simultaneous messages coming from hidden loudspeakers situated either at 90° or at 45° from the median plane to the left and to the right. They were told that the messages were coming from two visible dummy loudspeakers which were also situated either at 90° or at 45°. Pre-stimulus cueing of the side to be recalled was given. Significant right-side advantage was obtained in the 90° real-fictitious condition, not in the other conditions. These results show that right-side advantage can be obtained with presentation over loudspeakers and unilateral recall, and dismiss a purely structural or purely cognitive view of lateral asymmetries in audition. Role of structural and cognitive factors is discussed.     

Visual stream Segregation

A visual analog of auditory stream segregation occurs when a dot moving in discrete, jumps, alternates between positions on two regular trajectories. At slow speeds, one dot in irregular motion is seen. At higher speeds, two dots are seen, each moving in a regular trajectory.     

An empirical test for Fishburn's additivity axiom

Three experiments were done to test the empirical relevance of Fishburn's (1967) additivity axiom, which says that people should be indifferent between pairs of gambles which satisfy certain conditions specified in the axiom. Each of the experiments consisted of two parts. In the first part, subjects had to evaluate consequences which were used in the second part as possible outcomes in a gamble. In the second part, subjects had to make choices among pairs of gambles. The experiments differed in respect to kinds of consequences and kinds of subjects used. Additivity analysis was applied to the data of the first part of each experiment, using a conjoint measurement model. A Monte Carlo study is included, which provides some hints for the evaluation of the stress coefficients obtained after applying additivity analysis to the empirical data matrices. The data of the second part of each experiment are discussed in respect to their relevance for Fishburn's (1967) additivity axiom. It was not strongly supported by the data, unless for a very restricted situation.     

Converse Ackermann Croperty and semiclassical negation

A prepositional logic S has the Converse Ackermann Property (CAP) if (AB)C is unprovable in S when C does not contain . In A Routley-Meyer semantics for Converse Ackermann Property (Journal of Philosophical Logic, 16 (1987), pp. 65–76) I showed how to derive positive logical systems with the CAP. There I conjectured that each of these positive systems were compatible with a so-called semiclassical negation. In the present paper I prove that this conjecture was right. Relational Routley-Meyer type semantics are provided for each one of the resulting systems (the positive systems plus the semiclassical negation).     

Phonetic awareness and reading acquisition

Summary Three issues are dealt with: the relationship between phonetic awareness and reading acquisition, the nature of the cognitive capacities that make phonetic awareness possible, and the potential influence of phonetic awareness on language perception and comprehension. Data on the relationships between phonetic awareness and reading acquisition support an interactive view. For most people, learning to read in the alphabetic system stimulates phonetic awareness. On the other hand, phonetic awareness is a critical factor for success in reading acquisition. Indications about the nature of the cognitive capacities that underlie phonetic awareness may be obtained by inspecting its development. Two capacities at least seem to be required: the capacity to ignore meaning and focus on the sound properties of speech and the capacity of segmentation.Lack of phonetic awareness does not imply that phonetic processing does not take place during speech perception. Recent data suggest that speech perception includes a stage of extraction of phonetic features regardless of whether or not the subject is able to segment speech into phones explicitly. However, phonetic awareness may influence perceptual strategies and the relative weight of meaning expectancies in identification.Our work received support from the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche fondamentale collective (F.R.F.C.) under contracts No. 2.4505.76 and 2.4505.80 as well as from the Belgian Ministère de la Politique et de la Programmation scientifiques (Action de Recherche concertée Processus cognitifs dans la lecture)     

Correlation coefficients for more than one scale type: An alternative to the Janson and Vegelius approach

Janson and Vegelius have recently suggested a family of correlations for variables of mixed scale types, including nominal scales. The resulting correlations areE-coefficients, which means that they are unity if the variables involved are identical up to permissible transformations, and that they can be considered as inner products in a Euclidian space. Some of the coefficients of the correlation family suggested by Janson and Vegelius are generalized squared product-moment correlations and some are not. In the present paper, a family of correlations for variables of mixed scale types is advocated all members of which are generalized squared product-moment correlations. Some practical advantages of the latter family are explained. The authors are obliged to Klaas Nevels and Henk Kiers for helpful comments.