Word frequency in fast priming: Evidence for immediate cognitive control of eye movements during reading

Numerous studies have demonstrated effects of word frequency on eye movements during reading, but the precise timing of this influence has remained unclear. The fast priming paradigm was previously used to study influences of related versus unrelated primes on the target word. Here, we use this procedure to investigate whether the frequency of the prime word has a direct influence on eye movements during reading when the prime–target relation is not manipulated. We found that with average prime intervals of 32 ms readers made longer single fixation durations on the target word in the low than in the high frequency prime condition. Distributional analyses demonstrated that the effect of prime frequency on single fixation durations occurred very early, supporting theories of immediate cognitive control of eye movements. Finding prime frequency effects only 207 ms after visibility of the prime and for prime durations of 32 ms yields new time constraints for cognitive processes controlling eye movements during reading. Our variant of the fast priming paradigm provides a new approach to test early influences of word processing on eye movement control during reading.     

Object labeling influences infant phonetic learning and generalization

Different kinds of speech sounds are used to signify possible word forms in every language. For example, lexical stress is used in Spanish (/‘be.be/, ‘he/she drinks’ versus /be.’be/, ‘baby’), but not in French (/‘be.be/ and /be.’be/ both mean ‘baby’). Infants learn many such native language phonetic contrasts in their first year of life, likely using a number of cues from parental speech input. One such cue could be parents’ object labeling, which can explicitly highlight relevant contrasts. Here we ask whether phonetic learning from object labeling is abstract—that is, if learning can generalize to new phonetic contexts. We investigate this issue in the prosodic domain, as the abstraction of prosodic cues (like lexical stress) has been shown to be particularly difficult. One group of 10-month-old French-learners was given consistent word labels that contrasted on lexical stress (e.g., Object A was labeled /‘ma.bu/, and Object B was labeled /ma.’bu/). Another group of 10-month-olds was given inconsistent word labels (i.e., mixed pairings), and stress discrimination in both groups was measured in a test phase with words made up of new syllables. Infants trained with consistently contrastive labels showed an earlier effect of discrimination compared to infants trained with inconsistent labels. Results indicate that phonetic learning from object labeling can indeed generalize, and suggest one way infants may learn the sound properties of their native language(s).     

Distal rhythm influences whether or not listeners hear a word in continuous speech: Support for a perceptual grouping hypothesis

Due to extensive variability in the phonetic realizations of words, there may be few or no proximal spectro-temporal cues that identify a word’s onset or even its presence. Dilley and Pitt (2010) showed that the rate of context speech, distal from a to-be-recognized word, can have a sizeable effect on whether or not a word is perceived. This investigation considered whether there is a distinct role for distal rhythm in the disappearing word effect. Listeners heard sentences that had a grammatical interpretation with or without a critical function word (FW) and transcribed what they heard (e.g., are in Jill got quite mad when she heard there are birds can be removed and Jill got quite mad when she heard their birds is still grammatical). Consistent with a perceptual grouping hypothesis, participants were more likely to report critical FWs when distal rhythm (repeating ternary or binary pitch patterns) matched the rhythm in the FW-containing region than when it did not. Notably, effects of distal rhythm and distal rate were additive. Results demonstrate a novel effect of distal rhythm on the amount of lexical material listeners hear, highlighting the importance of distal timing information and providing new constraints for models of spoken word recognition.     

家庭社会经济地位对幼儿词汇理解的影响：多重中介效应分析

摘 要 目的：探讨家庭阅读环境（HLE）和电子媒介暴露在家庭社会经济地位（SES）和幼儿词汇理解间的中介作用。 方法：使用家庭基本信息调查表、家庭阅读环境问卷、皮博迪图片词汇测验对278名幼儿及其父母进行调查。 结果：（1）SES、HLE各维度（除hle5）与词汇理解呈显著正相关;电子屏幕使用时间与SES、HLE各维度和词汇理解呈显著负相关;（2）HLE和电子屏幕使用时间分别在SES和母亲受教育水平与幼儿词汇理解间起链式中介作用。 结论：HLE和电子屏幕使用时间在SES和幼儿词汇理解间起中介作用。     

Cross‐Situational Learning of Minimal Word Pairs

Cross‐situational statistical learning of words involves tracking co‐occurrences of auditory words and objects across time to infer word‐referent mappings. Previous research has demonstrated that learners can infer referents across sets of very phonologically distinct words (e.g., WUG, DAX), but it remains unknown whether learners can encode fine phonological differences during cross‐situational statistical learning. This study examined learners’ cross‐situational statistical learning of minimal pairs that differed on one consonant segment (e.g., BON–TON), minimal pairs that differed on one vowel segment (e.g., DEET–DIT), and non‐minimal pairs that differed on two or three segments (e.g., BON–DEET). Learners performed above chance for all pairs, but performed worse on vowel minimal pairs than on consonant minimal pairs or non‐minimal pairs. These findings demonstrate that learners can encode fine phonetic detail while tracking word‐referent co‐occurrence probabilities, but they suggest that phonological encoding may be weaker for vowels than for consonants.     

TOP‐DOWN AND BOTTOM‐UP: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING AND MINDFULNESS AS PREDICTORS IN MATERNAL–INFANT INTERACTION

The cross‐generational transmission of attachment appears to reflect a complex interplay of factors, which have been challenging to identify. The current longitudinal study explored the maternal cognitive model of relationships through language use, maternal mindfulness, and attachment style assessed prenatally, as predictors of maternal response to distress and infant behavior at 6 months’ postpartum. Infant behavior to the mother also was examined to provide an understanding of the evolving relationship. Thirty‐two females were interviewed prenatally regarding social and family experiences. At 6 months’ postpartum, each mother participated in a video‐recorded session where she was asked to teach her infant a developmentally appropriate task. Videos were analyzed using the NCAST Teaching Protocol. Language use prenatally as well as the mindfulness facets (acting with awareness and describing) predicted the mothers’ ability to respond to infant distress, indicating greater attunement. Infant's response to mother and clarity of cues also were predicted by maternal pronoun use. The study highlights the role of internal working models reflective of interpersonal beliefs, cognitive models, and current‐moment awareness in maternal behavior. The effect of maternal language on infant behavior arguably indicates the infant's integration of maternal internal working models.     

Domain effects in lexical development: learning words for foods and toys

We investigated 3-year-olds’ and adults’ use of domain cues in learning words for solid and nonsolid material entities. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants heard a novel neutral noun (e.g., “my X”) for a standard solid or nonsolid entity described as either a toy or a food. They then were asked to extend the word to one of two other entities. Both options matched the standard in solidity; but one differed from it in an object-relevant property (shape) and the other in a substance-relevant property (color, texture, or smell). Both children and adults were more likely to select the same-shaped entity if the standard was (1) solid than if it was nonsolid, and (2) described as a toy than if it was described as a food. Their interpretations of novel words for material entities were thus affected not only by perceptual information (about solidity) but also by conceptual information (about domain). In Experiment 3, the novel noun was presented in a syntactic context that suggested the solid entity should be interpreted as an object (e.g., “an X”) and that the nonsolid entity should be interpreted as a substance (e.g., “some X”). For adults, these changes largely eliminated the effect of the entity’s domain (toy, food) on interpretation. We interpret these findings in terms of the proposal that domain cues, like solidity cues, furnish information about whether an entity’s structure should be thought of as arbitrary or nonarbitrary and, hence, about whether a word should be interpreted as naming an object or a substance construal.     

Modelling the effects of semantic ambiguity in word recognition

Most words in English are ambiguous between different interpretations; words can mean different things in different contexts. We investigate the implications of different types of semantic ambiguity for connectionist models of word recognition. We present a model in which there is competition to activate distributed semantic representations. The model performs well on the task of retrieving the different meanings of ambiguous words, and is able to simulate data reported by Rodd, Gaskell, and Marslen-Wilson [J. Mem. Lang. 46 (2002) 245] on how semantic ambiguity affects lexical decision performance. In particular, the network shows a disadvantage for words with multiple unrelated meanings (e.g., bark) that coexists with a benefit for words with multiple related word senses (e.g., twist). The ambiguity disadvantage arises because of interference between the different meanings, while the sense benefit arises because of differences in the structure of the attractor basins formed during learning. Words with few senses develop deep, narrow attractor basins, while words with many senses develop shallow, broad basins. We conclude that the mental representations of word meanings can be modelled as stable states within a high-dimensional semantic space, and that variations in the meanings of words shape the landscape of this space.     

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.     

Language knowledge and event knowledge in language use

This paper examines how semantic knowledge is used in language comprehension and in making judgments about events in the world. We contrast knowledge gleaned from prior language experience (“language knowledge”) and knowledge coming from prior experience with the world (“world knowledge”). In two corpus analyses, we show that previous research linking verb aspect and event representations have confounded language and world knowledge. Then, using carefully chosen stimuli that remove this confound, we performed four experiments that manipulated the degree to which language knowledge or world knowledge should be salient and relevant to performing a task, finding in each case that participants use the type of knowledge most appropriate to the task. These results provide evidence for a highly context-sensitive and interactionist perspective on how semantic knowledge is represented and used during language processing.