The role of form and meaning in the processing of written morphology: A priming study in French developing readers

Three visual priming experiments using three different prime durations (60 ms in Experiment 1, 250 ms in Experiment 2, and 800 ms in Experiment 3) were conducted to examine which properties of morphemes (form and/or meaning) drive developing readers’ processing of written morphology. French third, fifth, and seventh graders and adults (the latter as a control group) performed lexical decision tasks in which targets were preceded by morphological (e.g., tablette–TABLE, “little table–table”), pseudoderived (e.g., baguette–BAGUE, “little stick–ring”), orthographic control (e.g., abricot–ABRI, “apricot–shelter”), and semantic control (e.g., Tulipe–FLEUR, “tulip–flower”) primes. Across all groups, different patterns of priming were observed in both morphological and orthographic/semantic control conditions, suggesting that they all process morphemes as units when reading. In developing readers, the processing of written morphology is triggered by the form properties of morphemes, and their semantic properties are activated later in the time course of word recognition. In adults, patterns of priming were similar except that the activation of the form properties of morphemes decreased earlier in the time course of word recognition. Taken together, these findings indicate that French developing readers process both the form and meaning properties of morphemes when reading and support a progressive quantitative change in the development of morphological processing over the course of reading development.     

词汇获得年龄效应的眼动研究

采用两个实验考察了获得年龄因素在汉语词汇识别中的作用。实验一采用经典的词汇判断任务考察了获得年龄和词频因素在词汇判断中的作用,结果发现获得年龄和词频两个因素均影响词汇识别。实验二采用阅读句子任务,通过实时记录的眼动追踪技术进一步考察了在有语境的情况下,获得年龄和词频因素在词汇加工中的作用。结果发现,在阅读句子任务中,词汇获得年龄和词频因素都在词汇加工中起作用,二者存在交互作用,晚获得词存在词频效应。两个实验的结果均支持了在汉语词汇识别中,存在获得年龄效应。     

任务与字频对汉字阅读中情绪价效应的影响

两个实验均以汉字为材料,采用2×3被试内设计,分别使用语义范畴判断和语音判断任务考察了汉字频率对阅读中情绪价效应的影响。结果发现：在语义任务中,情绪价与字频之间交互作用不显著,低频消极字和积极字的反应时均快于中性字,高频消极字的反应时也快于中性字,但高频积极字与中性字之间无差异。在语音任务中,情绪价与字频之间交互作用显著,低频消极字和积极字的反应时均快于中性字,而高频字的语音通达则不受情绪价的影响。汉字阅读中的情绪价效应不是自动化的过程,会受到字频与任务形式的影响。     

大学生英语语篇重复阅读的眼动研究

采用眼动追踪技术,考察重复阅读对母语为汉语的大学生阅读英语语篇的作用。研究采用2（目标词词频：高频、低频）×5（阅读遍数：1遍、2遍、3遍、4遍、5遍）的两因素被试内设计。结果发现：（1）随着阅读遍数的增加,读者的阅读理解正确率呈上升趋势,总阅读时间、注视次数、回视次数和平均注视时间显著降低,平均眼跳幅度显著增加;（2）阅读遍数与目标词词频的交互作用显著,表现为重复阅读对低频词识别的促进作用要显著大于对高频词识别的促进作用。研究表明重复阅读能够有效提高大学生对英语语篇的阅读效率。     

首、尾语素频率对中级印尼汉语学习者复合词识别的影响

通过词汇判断任务,探讨语素频率对中级印尼汉语学习者复合词识别的影响。研究结果发现,语素频率影响中级印尼汉语学习者复合词的识别。同时,语素频率对词汇识别的影响受到语素位置的调节。当语素为复合词的首语素时,语素频率高,词汇判断的正确率高;语素频率低,词汇判断的正确率低。当语素为复合词的尾语素时,语素频率对词汇判断正确率的影响受到首语素频率的限制。只有当首语素的频率高时,尾语素的频率才会影响词汇判断的正确率。当首语素的频率低时,尾语素的频率不影响词汇判断的正确率。研究结果支持中级印尼汉语学习者在复合词的表征中产生了语素表征,而且首语素的频率在复合词识别中发挥更重要的作用。     

Paradoxical cross-over due to attention to high or low spatial frequencies

The mechanisms underlying the right hemisphere's dominance for spatial and attentional functions lacks a comprehensively explanation. For example, perceptual biases, as observed in line bisection and related tasks, might be caused by an attentional asymmetry or by perceptual processes such as a specialization of the left and right hemisphere for high and low spatial frequencies (SFs), respectively. Here we used the gratingscales task to measure perceptual bias in SF judgements, and we cued participants' attention either to high or low SFs. Participants showed a leftward bias when comparing the high SF components of the stimulus, and a rightward bias when comparing the low SF components-opposite to what would be expected from a hemispheric lateralization for SFs. Two control experiments used different strategies to manipulate the width of the attentional window. However, we observed no influence on perceptual bias, thus ruling out the possibility that the results in Experiment 1 were due to differences in attentional window size. These data support the idea of an attentional asymmetry underlying perceptual bias. Our results provide novel support for the role of attentional asymmetry in perceptual biases.     

Spoken-word processing in aphasia: effects of item overlap and item repetition

Two studies were carried out to investigate the effects of presentation of primes showing partial (word-initial) or full overlap on processing of spoken target words. The first study investigated whether time compression would interfere with lexical processing so as to elicit aphasic-like performance in non-brain-damaged subjects. The second study was designed to compare effects of item overlap and item repetition in aphasic patients of different diagnostic types. Time compression did not interfere with lexical deactivation for the non-brain-damaged subjects. Furthermore, all aphasic patients showed immediate inhibition of co-activated candidates. These combined results show that deactivation is a fast process. Repetition effects, however, seem to arise only at the longer term in aphasic patients. Importantly, poor performance on diagnostic verbal STM tasks was shown to be related to lexical decision performance in both overlap and repetition conditions, which suggests a common underlying deficit.     

启动实验中收集基线反应时的必要性问题

启动实验的有效条件之一是,控制组和实验组的目标词在基线反应时上相同,但在实际操作中,不少研究没有收集基线反应时,只是确保了两组目标词在频率上相同.本研究实验结果显示:对于母语而言,如果词频很高,相同频率的词得到相同反应时的机率很大;相反,机率就比较低;对于外语而言,这种机率相对更低.实验说明,相同词频的词不一定能得到相同的反应时,因此收集基线反应时是启动实验不可或缺的步骤.     

Learning to fail: reoccurring tip-of-the-tongue states

This experiment looked at elicited tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states to test the hypothesis that making an error once makes people more likely to make it again, via an implicit learning mechanism. We present a methodology that allows us to determine whether error reoccurrences are due to error learning or to the fact that some items tend to pose repeated difficulty to participants. We elicited TOTs by asking participants to supply the word that fitted a given definition. Each time participants indicated that they were experiencing a TOT they were randomly assigned a delay of either 10 or 30 seconds, during which they were asked to keep trying to retrieve the item. After the delay, the correct answer was supplied. We argue that this longer delay in a TOT state amounts to greater implicit learning of the erroneous state. A period of 48 hours later, participants returned to the laboratory and were asked to supply the words for the same definitions as those seen on Day 1. Results showed that TOTs were almost twice as likely to reoccur on words that had elicited a TOT and been followed by a long delay than on those that had been followed by a short delay.     

The developmental course of lexical tone perception in the first year of life

Perceptual reorganisation of infants' speech perception has been found from 6 months for consonants and earlier for vowels. Recently, similar reorganisation has been found for lexical tone between 6 and 9 months of age. Given that there is a close relationship between vowels and tones, this study investigates whether the perceptual reorganisation for tone begins earlier than 6 months. Non-tone language English and French infants were tested with the Thai low vs. rising lexical tone contrast, using the stimulus alternating preference procedure. Four- and 6-month-old infants discriminated the lexical tones, and there was no decline in discrimination performance across these ages. However, 9-month-olds failed to discriminate the lexical tones. This particular pattern of decline in nonnative tone discrimination over age indicates that perceptual reorganisation for tone does not parallel the developmentally prior decline observed in vowel perception. The findings converge with previous developmental cross-language findings on tone perception in English-language infants [Mattock, K., & Burnham, D. (2006). Chinese and English infants' tone perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization. Infancy, 10(3)], and extend them by showing similar perceptual reorganisation for non-tone language infants learning rhythmically different non-tone languages (English and French).