Visual word recognition: A multistage activation model.

Although many models of word recognition have postulated loci for the simple effects of Context, Stimulus Quality, and Word Frequency, most of them are problematic in that they do not account for the pattern of joint effects among these factors. The experiments reported here show that, among other things, Word Frequency interacts with Context but is additive with Stimulus Quality in the context of a lexical decision experiment that also produces an interaction between Stimulus Quality and Context. The pattern of joint effects among these factors is accommodated by a multistage activation model that is based on the framework proposed by D. Besner and M. C. Smith (1992). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the multiple in the multiple read-out model of visual word recognition.

This study provided a test of the multiple criteria concept used for lexical decision, as implemented in J. Grainger and A. M. Jacobs's (1996) multiple read-out model. This account predicts more inhibition (or less facilitation) from a masked neighbor when accuracy is stressed more but more facilitation (or less inhibition) when the speed of responding is emphasized more. The authors tested these predictions by stressing accuracy (Experiment 1) and response speed (Experiment 2). The results of Experiment 1 showed a stronger neighbor-inhibition effect in the stress-on-accuracy condition than in the control condition. The results of Experiment 2 showed facilitation because of the neighbor prime in the stress-on-speed condition relative to the control condition. These results corroborate the multiple criteria account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Code-specific processes in word naming: Evidence supporting a dual-route model of word recognition.

This research examined visual and phonological coding in visual word recognition, Participants named words while performing 1 of 3 memory tasks. The difficulty of the memory tasks was varied. In Experiment 1, increasing the difficulty of a digit-memory load resulted in slower naming of low-frequency regular (e.g., wink) words but faster naming of low-frequency exception (e.g., pint) words. In Experiment 2, increasing the difficulty of a dot-memory load slowed naming of low-frequency exception words more than naming of low-frequency regular words. In Experiment 3, increasing the difficulty of a tone-memory load resulted in slower naming of both low-frequency regular and exception words. The results are consistent with dual-route assumptions concerning code-specific processes in word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Additive and interactive effects on response time distributions in visual word recognition.

Across 3 different word recognition tasks, distributional analyses were used to examine the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency on underlying response time distributions. Consistent with the extant literature, stimulus quality and word frequency produced additive effects in lexical decision, not only in the means but also in the shape of the response time distributions, supporting an early normalization process that is separate from processes influenced by word frequency. In contrast, speeded pronunciation and semantic classification produced interactive influences of word frequency and stimulus quality, which is a fundamental prediction from interactive activation models of lexical processing. These findings suggest that stimulus normalization is specific to lexical decision and is driven by the task's emphasis on familiarity-based information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention constraints of semantic activation during visual word recognition.

The reduction of semantic priming following letter search of the prime suggests that semantic activation can be blocked if attention is allocated to the letter level during word processing. Is this true even for the very fast-acting component of semantic activation? To test this, the authors explored semantic priming of lexical decision at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of either 200 or 1000 ms. Following semantic prime processing, priming occurred at both SOAs. In contrast, no priming occurred at the long SOA following letter-level processing. Of greatest interest, at the short SOA there was priming following the less demanding consonant/vowel task but not following the more attention-demanding letter search task. Hence, semantic activation can occur even when attention is directed to the letter level, provided there are sufficient resources to support this activation. The authors conclude that the default setting during word recognition is for fast-acting activation of the semantic system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A context noise model of episodic word recognition.

Item noise models of recognition assert that interference at retrieval is generated by the words from the study list. Context noise models of recognition assert that interference at retrieval is generated by the contexts in which the test word has appeared. The authors introduce the bind cue decide model of episodic memory, a Bayesian context noise model, and demonstrate how it can account for data from the item noise and dual-processing approaches to recognition memory. From the item noise perspective, list strength and list length effects, the mirror effect for word frequency and concreteness, and the effects of the similarity of other words in a list are considered. From the dual-processing perspective, process dissociation data on the effects of length. temporal separation of lists, strength, and diagnosticity of context are examined. The authors conclude that the context noise approach to recognition is a viable alternative to existing approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological effects in visual word recognition: Investigating the impact of feedback activation.

P. M. Pexman, S. J. Lupker, and D. Jared (2001) reported longer response latencies in lexical decision tasks (LDTs) for homophones (e.g., maid) than for nonhomophones, and attributed this homophone effect to orthographic competition created by feedback activation from phonology. In the current study, two predictions of this feedback account were tested: (a) In LDT, observe homophone effects should be observed but not regularity or homograph effects because most exception words (e.g., pint) and homographs (e.g., wind) have different feedback characteristics than homophones do, and (b) in a phonological LDT ("does it sound like a word?"), regularity and homograph effects should be observed but not homophone effects. Both predictions were confirmed. These results support the claim that feedback activation from phonology plays a significant role in visual word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the locus of the word frequency effect in visual word recognition.

Examined the effect of word frequency and stimulus quality factor effects on response time (RT) performance in multi-factor lexical decision (word recognition) experiments using a sample of 54 university students. Results show that additive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency are observed in mean RTs, variances, and the ex-Gaussian parameters of the RT distribution. These findings are consistent with the conclusion that word frequency and stimulus quality affect separate stages of processing. This is consistent with the conclusion that word frequency effects reflect mapping operations between stages, but, when taken in conjunction with other reports in the literature, is inconsistent with the received view in many activation models that word frequency exerts its effect within the word detector level of representation. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A distributed, developmental model of word recognition and naming.

The model described consists of sets of orthographic and phonological units and an interlevel of hidden units. Weights on connections between units were modified during a training phase using the back-propagation learning algorithm. The model simulates many aspects of human performance, including (a) differences between words in terms of processing difficulty, (b) pronunciation of novel items, (c) differences between readers in terms of word recognition skill, (d) transitions from beginning to skilled reading, and (e) differences in performance on lexical decisions and naming tasks. The model's behavior early in the learning phase corresponds to that of children acquiring word recognition skills. Training with a smaller number of hidden units produces output characteristic of many dyslexic readers. Naming is simulated without pronunciation rules, and lexical decisions are simulated without assessing word-level representations. The performance of the model is largely determined by three factors: the nature of the input, a significant fragment of written English; the learning rule, which encodes the implicit structure of the orthography in the weights on connections; and the architecture of the system, which influences the scope of what can be learned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orthographic processing in visual word recognition: A multiple read-out model.

A model of orthographic processing is described that postulates read-out from different information dimensions, determined by variable response criteria set on these dimensions. Performance in a perceptual identification task is simulated as the percentage of trials on which a noisy criterion set on the dimension of single word detector activity is reached. Two additional criteria set on the dimensions of total lexical activity and time from stimulus onset are hypothesized to be operational in the lexical decision task. These additional criteria flexibly adjust to changes in stimulus material and task demands. thus accounting for strategic influences on performance in this task. The model unifies results obtained in response-limited and data-limited paradigms and helps resolve a number of inconsistencies in the experimental literature that cannot be accommodated by other current models of visual word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competitive activation model of perceptual interference in picture and word identification.

Perceptual interference is the finding that prior exposures to a target item's partial features inhibit its later identification. This study tests a competitive activation model of perceptual interference that attributes interference to the activation of competing responses generated by prior cues. The authors examined 2 sets of data that seemed to be inconsistent or incompatible with the model. The first is the observed positive effect of viewing time of stimuli (J. S. Bruner and M. C. Potter, 1964). The second is the finding that interference occurs only for studied or primed words (Z. F. Peynircioglu, 1987; Peynircioglu and M. J. Watkins, 1986). Exps 1 and 2 showed paradoxical effects of viewing time and found evidence supporting the competitive activation model. Exps 3–6 failed to replicate Peynircioglu and Watkins's finding and showed that a performance level explanation compatible with the competitive activation model can account for all related results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eye movements to pictures reveal transient semantic activation during spoken word recognition.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 32(2) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2007-16796-001). The note to Appendix B (Stimuli Used in Experiment 2) on p. 14 contained errors. The fourth sentence, "For example, for participants receiving List A, lock was the target, key was the semantically related object, deer was the target's control, and apple was the related objects control" should read as follows: "For example, for participants receiving List A, logs was the target, key was the semantic onset competitor, and apple was the competitor's control."] Two experiments explore the activation of semantic information during spoken word recognition. Experiment 1 shows that as the name of an object unfolds (e.g., lock), eye movements are drawn to pictorial representations of both the named object and semantically related objects (e.g., key). Experiment 2 shows that objects semantically related to an uttered word's onset competitors become active enough to draw visual attention (e.g., if the uttered word is logs, participants fixate on key because of partial activation of lock), despite that the onset competitor itself is not present in the visual display. Together, these experiments provide detailed information about the activation of semantic information associated with a spoken word and its phonological competitors and demonstrate that transient semantic activation is sufficient to impact visual attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in the efficiency of word recognition.

Examined the hypothesis that the attentional demands of word recognition covary with other measures of reading efficiency. Individual differences in efficiency were indexed by (1) speed and accuracy of lexical access, (2) obligatory activation of phonological codes, and (3) working memory capacity. The attentional demands of word recognition were measured with a dual-task technique. Ss performed naming and probe-detection tasks separately (single task) and in combination (dual task). The results showed that single-task to dual-task decrements in performance on the naming and probe tasks were predicted by measures of the speed and accuracy of lexical access, obligatory activation of phonological codes, and efficiency of working memory. These findings provide support for the widespread assumption that the attentional demands of basic reading processes are a source of individual differences in reading skill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context and spoken word recognition in a novel lexicon.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 35(1) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2008-18581-022). Figure 9 was inadvertently duplicated as Figure 10. Figure 9 in the original article was correct. The correct Figure 10 is provided.] Three eye movement studies with novel lexicons investigated the role of semantic context in spoken word recognition, contrasting 3 models: restrictive access, access-selection, and continuous integration. Actions directed at novel shapes caused changes in motion (e.g., looming, spinning) or state (e.g., color, texture). Across the experiments, novel names for the actions and the shapes varied in frequency, cohort density, and whether the cohorts referred to actions (Experiment 1) or shapes with action-congruent or action-incongruent affordances (Experiments 2 and 3). Experiment 1 demonstrated effects of frequency and cohort competition from both displayed and non-displayed competitors. In Experiment 2, a biasing context induced an increase in anticipatory eye movements to congruent referents and reduced the probability of looks to incongruent cohorts, without the delay predicted by access-selection models. In Experiment 3, context did not reduce competition from non-displayed incompatible neighbors as predicted by restrictive access models. The authors conclude that the results are most consistent with continuous integration models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eye-fixation behavior, lexical storage, and visual word recognition in a split processing model.

Some of the implications of a model of visual word recognition in which processing is conditioned by the anatomical splitting of the visual field between the two hemispheres of the brain are explored. The authors investigate the optimal processing of visually presented words within such an architecture, and, for a realistically sized lexicon of English, characterize a computationally optimal fixation point in reading. They demonstrate that this approach motivates a range of behavior observed in reading isolated words and text, including the optimal viewing position and its relationship with the preferred viewing location, the failure to fixate smaller words, asymmetries in hemisphere-specific processing, and the priority given to the exterior letters of words. The authors also show that split architectures facilitate the uptake of all the letter-position information necessary for efficient word recognition and that this information may be less specific than is normally assumed. A split model of word recognition captures a range of behavior in reading that is greater than that covered by existing models of visual word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological priming in auditory word recognition.

Used a priming technique to test specific predictions regarding cohort activation in 3 experiments involving 170 undergraduates. Ss identified target words embedded in noise at different signal-to-noise ratios. The target words were either presented in isolation or preceded by a prime item that shared phonological information with the target. In Exp I, primes and targets were English words that shared 0, 1, 2, 3, or all phonemes from the beginning of the word. In Exp II, nonword primes preceded word targets and shared initial phonemes. In Exp III, word primes and word targets shared phonemes from the end of a word. Reliable phonological priming was observed in all experiments. Results of Exps I and II support the assumption of activation of lexical candidates based on word-initial information, as proposed in cohort theory; however, results of Exp III, which showed increased probability of correctly identifying targets that shared phonemes from the end of words, did not support the predictions derived from the theory. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competitor priming in spoken word recognition.

Most models predict that priming a word should retard recognition of another sharing its initial sounds. Available short lag priming data do not clearly support the prediction. The authors report 7 continuous lexical-decision experiments with 288 participants. With lags of 1–5 min between prime and probe, response time increased for a monosyllabic word preceded by a word sharing its onset and vowel (but not one sharing its rime) and for a polysyllabic word preceded by another sharing its first syllable. The effect was limited to words primed by words, suggesting that identifying the prime strengthens its lexical attractor, making identification of a lexical neighbor more difficult. With lags of only a few trials, facilitatory effects of phonological similarity or familiarity bias effects were also seen; this may explain why clear evidence for inhibitory priming has been lacking hitherto. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing a neurocomputational model of recollection, familiarity, and source recognition.

The authors assess whether the complementary learning systems model of the medial temporal lobes (Norman & O'Reilly, 2003) is able to account for source recognition receiver operating characteristics (ROCs). The model assumes that recognition reflects the contribution of a hippocampally mediated recollection process and a cortically mediated familiarity process. The hippocampal process is found to produce threshold output functions that lead to U-shaped zROCs, whereas the cortical process produces Gaussian signal detection functions and linear zROCs. The model is consistent with several dual process theories of recognition and is capable of producing the types of zROCs observed in studies of item and source recognition. In addition, the model makes the novel prediction that as the level of feature similarity across items increases, the ability of the hippocampus to encode distinct representations for each stimulus will diminish, and the threshold nature of recollection will break down, leading source zROCs to become more linear. The authors conducted 3 new behavioral source experiments that confirmed the model's prediction. The results demonstrate that the model provides a viable account of item and source recognition performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is phonological context always used to recognize variant forms in spoken word recognition? The role of variant frequency and context distribution.

Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for how listeners accommodate regular phonological variation in connected speech. Using a corpus analysis and 5 cross-modal priming experiments, the authors investigate phonological variant recognition for the American English word-final flap. The corpus analysis showed that the flap variant occurs relatively frequently compared with the citation form [t] variant and is only probabilistically constrained by prosodic and phonemic context. The experienced distribution of the flap production is reflected in lexical processing: 4 cross-modal priming experiments demonstrated that lexical activation is not influenced by contextual constraints (inappropriate phrase boundary or phonemic contexts). A 2nd finding was a smaller priming effect for the less frequent flap as compared with the more frequent [t] variant. The contrasts between these findings for the flap and other context conditioned variants are discussed in terms of their implications for models of phonological variation recognition and in terms of the role of language experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of set in visual word recognition: Activation and activation blocking as nonautomatic processes.

The semantic priming effect in lexical decision is widely assumed to reflect automatic processes when the prime is merely read. In contrast, semantic priming is typically eliminated when the prime is subjected to a letter search. The present experiments demonstrate that semantic priming (a) occurs following letter search given a short stimulus onset asynchrony between prime and probe and (b) is reinstated in the standard, simultaneous letter search condition when such trials are mixed with delayed probe trials. These results are discussed in terms of the role of set in the context of an interactive activation framework. Activation and activation blocking are seen as nonautomatic processes controlled by set so as to balance bottom-up and top-down influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)