Word-learning performance in beginning readers.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 62(4) of Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale (see record 2008-17217-008). In the article, "Word-Learning Performance in Beginning Readers" by Elizabeth Nilsen and Derrick Bourassa (Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2008, Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 110-116), part of the Appendix was inadvertently left out. The Appendix appears in this correction in its entirety. The printer regrets this error.] This investigation examined word-learning performance in beginning readers. The children learned to read words with regular spelling-sound mappings (e.g., snake) more easily than words with irregular spelling-sound mappings (e.g., sword). In addition, there was an effect of semantics: Children learned to read concrete words (e.g., elbow) more successfully than abstract words (e.g., temper). Trial-by-trial learning indicated that children made greater use of the regularity and semantic properties at later trials as compared with early trials. The influence of cognitive skills (paired associate learning and phonological awareness) on word-learning performance was also examined. Regression analyses revealed that whereas paired associate learning skills accounted for unique variance in the children's learning of both regular and irregular words, phonological awareness accounted for unique variance only in the acquisition of regular words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological typicality influences sentence processing in predictive contexts: Reply to Staub, Grant, Clifton, and Rayner (2009).

In 2 separate self-paced reading experiments, Farmer, Christiansen, and Monaghan (2006) found that the degree to which a word's phonology is typical of other words in its lexical category influences online processing of nouns and verbs in predictive contexts. Staub, Grant, Clifton, and Rayner (2009) failed to find an effect of phonological typicality when they combined stimuli from the separate experiments into a single experiment. We replicated Staub et al.'s experiment and found that the combination of stimulus sets affects the predictiveness of the syntactic context; this reduces the phonological typicality effect as the experiment proceeds, although the phonological typicality effect was still evident early in the experiment. Although an ambiguous context may diminish sensitivity to the probabilistic relationship between the sound of a word and its lexical category, phonological typicality does influence online sentence processing during normal reading when the syntactic context is predictive of the lexical category of upcoming words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Foerde et al. (2008).

Reports an error in "Selective corticostriatal dysfunction in schizophrenia: Examination of motor and cognitive skill learning" by Karin Foerde, Russell A. Poldrack, Barbara J. Knowlton, Fred W. Sabb, Susan Y. Bookheimer, Robert M. Bilder, Don Guthrie, Eric Granholm, Keith H. Nuechterlein, Stephen R. Marder and Robert F. Asarnow (Neuropsychology, 2008[Jan], Vol 22[1], 100-109). Table 1 on page 102 should have included the BPRS Depression-Anxiety subscale score 9.00 (3.99) under the column heading Schiz pts. Table displays means with standard deviations in parentheses. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-00382-011.) [Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 22(2) of Neuropsychology (see record 2008-02526-002). The DOI for the supplemental materials was printed incorrectly. The correct DOI is as follows: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.22.1.100.supp.] It has been suggested that patients with schizophrenia have corticostriatal circuit dysfunction (Carlsson & Carlsson, 1990). Skill learning is thought to rely on corticostriatal circuitry and different types of skill learning may be related to separable corticostriatal loops (Grafton, Hazeltine, & Ivry, 1995; Poldrack, Prabhakaran, Seger, & Gabrieli, 1999). The authors examined motor (Serial Reaction Time task, SRT) and cognitive (Probabilistic Classification task, PCT) skill learning in patients with schizophrenia and normal controls. Development of automaticity was examined, using a dual task paradigm, across three training sessions. Patients with schizophrenia were impaired at learning on the PCT compared to controls. Performance gains of controls occurred within the first session, whereas patients only improved gradually and never reached the performance level of controls. In contrast, patients were not impaired at learning on the SRT relative to controls, suggesting that patients with schizophrenia may have dysfunction in a specific corticostriatal subcircuit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oral language and reading: Reply to Bracken (2005).

Early language competence in preschool relates both directly and indirectly to elementary school reading in both 1st and 3rd grades. Further, comprehensive language skills are more strongly related to early reading than are vocabulary scores alone. In response to a challenge by S. A. Bracken (2005), the current article reaffirms the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network's (see record 2005-02477-013) findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the Anglocentricities of current reading research and practice: The perils of overreliance on an "outlier" orthography.

In this critique of current reading research and practice, the author contends that the extreme ambiguity of English spelling-sound correspondence has confined reading science to an insular, Anglocentric research agenda addressing theoretical and applied issues with limited relevance for a universal science of reading. The unique problems posed by this "outlier" orthography, the author argues, have focused disproportionate attention on oral reading accuracy at the expense of silent reading, meaning access, and fluency, and have significantly distorted theorizing with regard to many issues-including phonological awareness, early reading instruction, the architecture of stage models of reading development, the definition and remediation of reading disability, and the role of lexical-semantic and supralexical information in word recognition. The dominant theoretical paradigm in contemporary (word) reading research--the Coltheart/Baron dual-route model (see, e.g., J. Baron, 1977; M. Coltheart, 1978) and, in large measure, its connectionist rivals--arose largely in response to English spelling-sound obtuseness. The model accounts for a range of English-language findings, but it is ill-equipped to serve the interests of a universal science of reading chiefly because it overlooks a fundamental unfamiliar-to-familiar/novice-to-expert dualism applicable to all words and readers in all orthographies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's meaning got to do with it: The role of vocabulary in word reading and reading comprehension.

There is at present no clear consensus as to the nature of the relations between oral vocabulary and specific literacy skills. The present study distinguished between vocabulary breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge to better explain the role of oral vocabulary in various reading skills. A sample of 60 typically developing Grade 4 students was assessed on measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary breadth, depth of vocabulary knowledge, decoding, visual word recognition, and reading comprehension. Concurrent analyses revealed that each distinct reading skill was related to the vocabulary measures in a unique manner. Receptive vocabulary breadth was the only oral vocabulary variable that predicted decoding performance after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence. In contrast, expressive vocabulary breadth predicted visual word recognition, whereas depth of vocabulary knowledge predicted reading comprehension. The results are discussed in terms of interrelations between phonological and semantic factors in the acquisition of distinct reading skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Belmonte (2008).

Reports an error in "Does the experimental scientist have a "theory of mind?" by Matthew K. Belmonte (Review of General Psychology, 2008[Jun], Vol 12[2], 192-204). In the article, "Does the Experimental Scientist Have a 'Theory of Mind'?" by Matthew K. Belmonte (Review of General Psychology, 2008, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 192-204), a reference was listed in incorrect order. The reference, "Lévi-Straus, C. (1926). La pensée sauvage [The Savage Mind]. Paris: Plon." should have followed, "Lesslie, A. M., & Thaiss, L. (1992). Domain Specificity in conceptual development: Neuropsychological evidence from autism. Cognition, 43, 225-251." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-07086-011.) The concept of a "theory of mind" was widely used in developmental and evolutionary psychology and neuroscience in the wake of Premack and Woodruff's 1978 article "Does the Chimpanzee Have a Theory of Mind?" and Baron-Cohen, Leslie, and Frith's 1985 follow-up "Does the Autistic Child Have a 'Theory of Mind?'" The subsequent confluence of cognitive science and narrative theory brought "theory of mind" to literary critics. Only a very small set of people, however, have read both the neuropsychological and the literary texts on "theory of mind"; as a result of this lack of interdisciplinary expertise, the term has acquired subtly differing senses in the literary and neuroscientific communities. Because of this terminological slippage, neuroscientists and literary critics who argue in terms of "theory of mind" may believe that they are speaking with each other when they actually are speaking past each other. If proponents of cognitive literary theory are to realize the interdisciplinary fusion to which we aspire, then we must ensure that we speak in the same idiom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Leone (2008).

Reports an error in "Couple therapy from the perspective of self psychology and intersubjectivity theory" by Carla Leone (Psychoanalytic Psychology, 2008[Jan], Vol 25[1], 79-98). Throughout the article, "Couples therapy" should read as "couple therapy," and "self-psychology" should read as "self psychology." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-00996-006.) Central tenets of self-psychology and intersubjective systems theory (e.g., Stolorow & Atwood, 1992) are applied to the understanding and treatment of couple. The concepts of selfobject needs, unconscious organizing principles, and learned relational patterns are used to conceptualize common couples difficulties. A treatment approach is outlined, involving: (1) listening from within each partner's subjective perspective; (2) establishing a therapeutic dialogue through which each partner's selfobject needs, ways of organizing experience, and patterns of relating can gradually be empathically illuminated and transformed; and (3) facilitating new relational experiences with the couples therapist and eventually between the partners. Four concepts of self psychology that are particularly useful with some of the most challenging aspects of couples work are then discussed. Finally, the judicious use of directive interventions with couples is discussed as consistent with this perspective. A case example is used throughout the paper to illustrate key points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prosodic phonological representations early in visual word recognition.

Two experiments examined the nature of the phonological representations used during visual word recognition. We tested whether a minimality constraint (R. Frost, 1998) limits the complexity of early representations to a simple string of phonemes. Alternatively, readers might activate elaborated representations that include prosodic syllable information before lexical access. In a modified lexical decision task (Experiment 1), words were preceded by parafoveal previews that were congruent with a target's initial syllable as well as previews that contained 1 letter more or less than the initial syllable. Lexical decision times were faster in the syllable congruent conditions than in the incongruent conditions. In Experiment 2, we recorded brain electrical potentials (electroencephalograms) during single word reading in a masked priming paradigm. The event-related potential waveform elicited in the syllable congruent condition was more positive 250-350 ms posttarget compared with the waveform elicited in the syllable incongruent condition. In combination, these experiments demonstrate that readers process prosodic syllable information early in visual word recognition in English. They offer further evidence that skilled readers routinely activate elaborated, speechlike phonological representations during silent reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Romney (2008).

Reports an error in "Consulting for diversity and social justice: Challenges and rewards" by Patricia Romney (Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 2008[Jun], Vol 60[2], 139-156). The author refers to "Paul Winn." The referenced author's last name was printed incorrectly. The correct spelling is Winum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-07255-002.) Consulting and training for cultural diversity is both challenging and rewarding. This article issues a call to face the challenges of diversity consulting and describes strategies and approaches for successful work. Using examples from the author's practice, the author calls on consultants to (1) get up to speed with knowledge about diversity and social justice, (2) avoid consultations that are too superficial, (3) balance content and process, (4) find ways to sustain themselves and their clients, and (5) work for the Common Good. A social justice frame is seen as a necessary adjunct to promoting equity and excellence in organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contribution of morphological awareness to Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition.

This study is an investigation of the contribution of morphological awareness in Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition. Comparable tasks in Chinese and English were administered to test children's skills in morphological awareness, phonological awareness, oral vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension. The results showed that after the effect of Chinese-based predictors had been accounted for, English morphological awareness of compound structure still contributed to variance in both character reading and reading comprehension in Chinese. This finding indicates a cross-language morphological transfer in acquisition of two distinct writing systems. The transfer from English L2 to Chinese L1 is due to the bilingual children's rapidly increasing English L2 skills in their primary school years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lexical exposure and word-form encoding in 1.5-year-olds.

In this study, 1.5-year-olds were taught a novel word. Some children were familiarized with the word's phonological form before learning the word's meaning. Fidelity of phonological encoding was tested in a picture-fixation task using correctly pronounced and mispronounced stimuli. Only children with additional exposure in familiarization showed reduced recognition performance given slight mispronunciations relative to correct pronunciations; children with fewer exposures did not. Mathematical modeling of vocabulary exposure indicated that children may hear thousands of words frequently enough for accurate encoding. The results provide evidence compatible with partial failure of phonological encoding at 19 months of age, demonstrate that this limitation in learning does not always hinder word recognition, and show the value of infants' word-form encoding in early lexical development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

“Additive and interactive effects of stimulus degradation: No challenge for CDP+”: Correction to Ziegler et al. (2009).

Reports an error in "Additive and interactive effects of stimulus degradation: No challenge for CDP+" by Johannes C. Ziegler, Conrad Perry and Marco Zorzi (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2009[Jan], Vol 35[1], 306-311). The URL for the supplemental material was incomplete. The complete URL is http:dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0013738.supp. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-18581-023.) S. O'Malley and D. Besner (2008) showed that additive effects of stimulus degradation and word frequency in reading aloud occur in the presence of nonwords but not in pure word lists. They argued that this dissociation presents a major challenge to interactive computational models of reading aloud and claimed that no currently implemented model is able to simulate additive effects in these conditions. In the current article, it is shown that the connectionist dual process model (CDP+) can simulate these effects because its nonlexical route is thresholded. The authors present a series of simulations showing that CDP+ can not only simulate the precise dissociation observed by O'Malley and Besner but more generally can produce additive effects for a wide range of parameter combinations and different sets of items. The nonlexical route of CDP+ was not modified post hoc to deal with the effects of stimulus quality, but it had been thresholded for principled reasons before it was known that these effects existed. Together, the effects of stimulus quality on word frequency do not challenge CDP+ but rather provide unexpected support for its architecture and processing dynamics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Still no phonological typicality effect on word reading time (and no good explanation of one, either): A rejoinder to Farmer, Monaghan, Misyak, and Christiansen.

In this brief rejoinder, we respond to Farmer, Monaghan, Misyak, and Christiansen (2011). We argue that the data still do not support the claim that reading time is affected by the phonological typicality of a word for its part of speech. We also question Farmer et al.'s claim that interleaving syntactic structures in an experiment modifies grammatically based syntactic expectations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Condry and Spelke (2008).

Reports an error in "The development of language and abstract concepts: The case of natural number" by Kirsten F. Condry and Elizabeth S. Spelke (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2008[Feb], Vol 137[1], 22-38). The DOI for the supplemental materials was printed incorrectly. The correct DOI is as follows: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.137.1.22.supp (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-01081-003.) What are the origins of abstract concepts such as "seven," and what role does language play in their development? These experiments probed the natural number words and concepts of 3-year-old children who can recite number words to ten but who can comprehend only one or two. Children correctly judged that a set labeled eight retains this label if it is unchanged, that it is not also four, and that eight is more than two. In contrast, children failed to judge that a set of 8 objects is better labeled by eight than by four, that eight is more than four, that eight continues to apply to a set whose members are rearranged, or that eight ceases to apply if the set is increased by 1, doubled, or halved. The latter errors contrast with children's correct application of words for the smallest numbers. These findings suggest that children interpret number words by relating them to 2 distinct preverbal systems that capture only limited numerical information. Children construct the system of abstract, natural number concepts from these foundations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Nature of Phonological Awareness: Converging Evidence From Four Studies of Preschool and Early Grade School Children.

Significant controversy exists about the nature of phonological awareness, a causal variable in reading acquisition. In 4 studies that included 202 5- to 6-year-old children studied longitudinally for 3 years, 123 2- to 5-year-old children, 38 4-year-old children studied longitudinally for 2 years, and 826 4- to 7-year-old children, the authors examined the relation of sensitivity to rhyme with other forms of phonological awareness. Rhyme sensitivity was indistinguishable from phonemic awareness, segmemal awareness, and global phonological sensitivity in younger children. Rhyme sensitivity was distinguishable, although highly correlated, with these phonological skills in older children. Rhyme sensitivity was highly predictive of these other phonological skills. Children's sensitivity to different linguistic units seems best conceptualized as a single underlying ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Solving XOR": Correction to Grand and Honey (2008).

Reports an error in "Solving XOR" by C. Grand and R. C. Honey (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 2008[Oct], Vol 34[4], 486-493). Figure 2 in the article was printed incorrectly due to an editing error. The correct version of Figure 2 is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-14849-005.) Three experiments examined the way in which exclusive-or (XOR) problems are solved by rats. All rats first received food-rewarded positive and negative patterning problems with two stimulus sets: either A+, B+, AB- and C-, D-, CD+, or A-, B-, AB + and C+, D +, and CD-. Subsequently, rats received revaluation trials in which A was paired with shock and C was not, prior to generalization test trials with B, D, AB, and CD (Experiments 1 & 2); or received A→shock trials prior to tests with B and CD (Experiment 3). There was greater generalized fear to B than to either D (Experiments 1 & 2) or AB (Experiment 2) and CD (Experiments 2 & 3). These results are inconsistent with configural, connectionist models, but are consistent with an alternative connectionist model that can represent the logical structure of XOR problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)