The power of the written word: Comparing word meaning inferencing from auditory and written modalities throughout grade school

Previous research indicates that word learning from auditory contexts may be more effective than written context at least through fourth grade. However, no study has examined contextual differences in word learning in older school-aged children when reading abilities are more developed. Here we examined developmental differences in children’s ability to deduce the meanings of unknown words from the surrounding linguistic context in the auditory and written modalities and sought to identify the most important predictors of success in each modality. A total of 89 children aged 8–15 years were randomly assigned to either read or listen to a narrative that included eight novel words, with five exposures to each novel word. They then completed three posttests to assess word meaning inferencing. Children across all ages performed better in the written modality. Vocabulary was the only significant predictor of success on the word inferencing task. Results indicate support for written stimuli as the most effective modality for novel word meaning deduction. Our findings suggest that the presence of orthographic information facilitates novel word learning even for early, less proficient readers.     

Pupillometric decoding of high-level musical imagery

Humans report imagining sound where no physical sound is present: we replay conversations, practice speeches, and “hear” music all within the confines of our minds. Research has identified neural substrates underlying auditory imagery; yet deciphering its explicit contents has been elusive. Here we present a novel pupillometric method for decoding what individuals hear “inside their heads”. Independent of light, pupils dilate and constrict in response to noradrenergic activity. Hence, stimuli evoking unique and reliable patterns of attention and arousal even when imagined should concurrently produce identifiable patterns of pupil-size dynamics (PSDs). Participants listened to and then silently imagined music while eye-tracked. Using machine learning algorithms, we decoded the imagined songs within- and across-participants following classifier-training on PSDs collected during both imagination and perception. Echoing findings in vision, cross-domain decoding accuracy increased with imagery strength. These data suggest that light-independent PSDs are a neural signature sensitive enough to decode imagination.