Conceptual priming for environmental sounds and words: an ERP study

In this study we examined conceptual priming using environmental sounds and visually displayed words. Priming for sounds and words was observed in response latency as well as in event-related potentials. Reactions were faster when a related word followed an environmental sound and vice versa. Moreover both stimulus types produced an N400-effect for unrelated compared to related trials. The N400-effect had an earlier onset for environmental sounds than for words. The results support the theoretical notion that conceptual processing may be similar for verbal and non-verbal stimuli.     

Imageability,age of acquisition,and frequency factors in acronym comprehension

In spite of their unusual orthographic and phonological form, acronyms (e.g., BBC, HIV, NATO) can become familiar to the reader, and their meaning can be accessed well enough that they are understood. The factors in semantic access for acronym stimuli were assessed using a word association task. Two analyses examined the time taken to generate a word association response to acronym cues. Responses were recorded more quickly to cues that elicited a large proportion of semantic responses, and those that were high in associative strength. Participants were shown to be faster to respond to cues which were imageable or early acquired. Frequency was not a significant predictor of word association responses. Implications for theories of lexical organisation are discussed.     

Null category-length and target–lure relatedness effects in episodic recognition: A constraint on item-noise interference models

There are two main classes of model of interference effects in recognition memory: item-noise and context-noise. Item-noise models predict that a loss of memory discriminability will occur with an increase in the number of studied items from the same taxonomic category (category length, CL) and that forced-choice recognition performance will be higher when the target and lure are related rather than unrelated. Context-noise models, however, predict null effects for both of these manipulations. Although results from some recent experiments suggest that CL and target–lure relatedness have a trivial or no effect on memory discriminability when the related items from the same taxonomic category are “not back to back in the study list but are separated (spaced) by interleaving items from other semantic categories,” these experiments have methodological limitations that were eliminated in the present experiment in which exemplars representing category lengths of 2, 8, or 14 were presented spaced apart within the same study list. Recognition was tested using a yes/no recognition test or a two-alternative forced-choice recognition test in which the target and lure were either related or unrelated. In yes/no recognition, d′ decreased as CL increased, replicating prior research. However, when the slope of the z-ROC function is less than 1.0, as is typically so and was so in the present results, d′ differences can arise due to criterion shifts and are not necessarily due to memory discriminability differences. When the more appropriate measure of memory discriminability, d _a , was computed, CL had no effect in yes/no recognition, nor did it have an effect in forced-choice recognition, which also was not affected by target–lure relatedness. Thus, the present results are congruent with context-noise models and pose a challenge for item-noise models.     

What constrains grammatical gender effects on semantic judgements? Evidence from Portuguese

Four studies investigated whether grammatical gender biases the semantic judgements of Portuguese speakers, relative to speakers of English. Some research reports that grammatical gender has a pervasive influence on speakers' cognitive representations (e.g., Boroditsky, Schmidt, & Philips, 2003; Sera, Elieff, Forbes, Burch, & Rodriguez, 2002). Others argue that effects of grammar arise through linguistic processing (e.g., Vigliocco, Vinson, Paganelli, & Dworzynski, 2005) and are restricted to animate categories for which gender is a pertinent feature. The present results found effects of gender in Portuguese speakers' judgements of inanimate objects, but only when gender was task relevant and/or when the stimuli were words, rather than pictures. These findings support the view that gender effects on cognitive judgements arise as a function of linguistic processing and/or task demands, rather than directly influencing conceptual or semantic representations.     

The Relationship Between Applicant Reactions, the Likelihood of Complaints, and Organization Attractiveness

This study examined the effect of applicants' reactions to selection measures on complaint intentions and perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Despite recent challenges to selection tests for invasion of privacy, limited research has examined the link between specific reactions and potential legal challenges. As predicted, perceived invasiveness was significantly related to perceived likelihood of complaints for three selection measures. Further, perceived job relatedness was negatively related to likelihood of complaints for a test battery and a math test, but not for an integrity test. On the other hand, neither job relatedness nor invasiveness was significantly related to organizational attractiveness for any of the tests. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.     

多义词意义间的联系程度对词汇判断时间的影响

采用词汇判断法,考察双字多义词各意义间的联系程度对词汇判断时间的影响,同时考察,意义间联系程度不同的多义词与单义词的词汇判断时间的关系。实验结果表明:汉语中双字多义词意义间联系程度的高低没有对多义词词汇判断的时间产生影响。在低频词的条件下,双字多义词,不管其意义间联系程度的高低,词汇判断的时间都快于单义词的判断时间,这表明汉语词汇识别中,存在低频多义词的识别优势效应。     

关联性记忆错觉的产生与保持

两项实验对关联性记忆错觉的产生与保持进行了考察。实验结果表明,关联性记忆错觉接近学过词的回忆水平,但它的产生不随年龄的变化而变化;时间变量对关联性记忆错觉的影响不显著。此外,关联性记忆错觉不同于学过的词,在延迟加快时没有系列位置效应的产生。