“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)     

Additivity of factor effects in reading tasks is still a challenge for computational models: Reply to Ziegler, Perry, and Zorzi (2009).

J. C. Ziegler, C. Perry, and M. Zorzi (2009) have claimed that their connectionist dual process model (CDP+) can simulate the data reported by S. O'Malley and D. Besner. Most centrally, they have claimed that the model simulates additive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency on the time to read aloud when words and nonwords are randomly intermixed. This work represents an important attempt given that computational models of reading processes have to date largely ignored the issue of whether it is possible to simulate additive effects. Despite CDP+'s success at capturing many other phenomena, it is clear that CDP+ fails to capture the full pattern seen with skilled readers in these experiments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Qualitative differences between the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency in reading aloud and lexical decision: Extensions to Yap and Balota (2007).

There have been multiple reports over the last 3 decades that stimulus quality and word frequency have additive effects on the time to make a lexical decision. However, it is surprising that there is only 1 published report to date that has investigated the joint effects of these two factors in the context of reading aloud, and the outcome of that study is ambiguous. The present study shows that these factors interact in the context of reading aloud and at the same time replicate the standard pattern reported for lexical decision. The main implication of these results is that lexical activation, at least as indexed by the effect of word frequency, does not unfold in a uniform way in the contexts reported here. The observed dissociation also implies, contrary to J. A. Fodor's (1983) view, that the mental lexicon is penetrable rather than encapsulated. The distinction between cascaded and thresholded processing offers one way to understand these and related results. A direction for further research is briefly noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading aloud: Qualitative differences in the relation between stimulus quality and word frequency as a function of context.

Virtually all theories of visual word recognition assume (typically implicitly) that when a pathway is used, processing within that pathway always unfolds in the same way. This view is challenged by the observation that simple variations in list composition are associated with qualitative changes in performance. The present experiments demonstrate that when reading aloud, the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency on response time are driven by the presence/absence of nonwords in the list. Interacting effects of these factors are seen when only words appear in the experiment, whereas additive effects are seen when words and nonwords are randomly intermixed. One way to explain these and other data appeals to the distinction between cascaded processing (or interactive activation) on the one hand versus a thresholded mode of processing on the other, with contextual factors determining which mode of processing dominates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociative effects of stimulus quality on semantic and morphological contexts in visual word recognition.

Semantic and morphological contexts were manipulated jointly with stimulus quality under conditions where there were few related prime-target pairs (i.e., low relatedness proportion) in a lexical decision experiment. Additive effects of semantic context and stimulus quality on RT were observed, replicating previous work. In contrast, morphological context interacted with stimulus quality. This dissociation is discussed in the context of Besner and colleagues' evolving multistage framework. The essence of the account is that 1) stimulus quality affects feature and letter levels, but not later levels, 2) feedback from semantics to the lexical level is inoperative under low relatedness proportion conditions (hence stimulus quality and semantic context yield additive effects), whereas 3) feedback from the lexical level to the letter level is intact, hence stimulus quality and morphological context produce an interaction by virtue of them affecting a common stage of processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neighborhood effects in reading aloud: New findings and new challenges for computational models.

A word from a dense neighborhood is often read aloud faster than a word from a sparse neighborhood. This advantage is usually attributed to orthography, but orthographic and phonological neighbors are typically confounded. Two experiments investigated the effect of neighborhood density on reading aloud when phonological density was varied while orthographic density was held constant, and vice versa. A phonological neighborhood effect was observed, but not an orthographic one. These results are inconsistent with the predominant role ascribed to orthographic neighbors in accounts of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Consistent with this interpretation, 6 different computational models of reading aloud failed to simulate this pattern of results. The results of the present experiments thus provide a new understanding of some of the processes underlying reading aloud, and new challenges for computational models. (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)     

On the joint effects of stimulus quality, regularity, and lexicality when reading aloud: New challenges.

A number of computational models have been developed over the last 2 decades that are remarkably successful at explaining the process of translating print into sound. Nevertheless, 2 of the most successful computational accounts on the table fail to simulate the results from factorial experiments reported in this article in which university students read aloud letter strings that varied in terms of spelling–sound regularity and lexicality (regular words vs. exception words vs. nonwords) and stimulus quality (bright vs. dim). Skilled readers yielded additive effects of regularity and stimulus quality and additive effects of lexicality and stimulus quality on both RT and errors when nonwords were mixed with words. When only words appeared in the list, there was an interaction in which exception words were less affected by low stimulus quality than regular words were; no existing account anticipates or explains these results. We advance a hypothesis that assumes a novel module that accommodates these data and provide an existence proof in the form of a simulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Reading Aloud: Evidence for the Use of a Whole Word Nonsemantic Pathway": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Reading aloud: Evidence for the use of a whole word nonsemantic pathway" by Lori Buchanan and Derek Besner (Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1993[Jun], Vol 47[2], 133-152). In Table 1, an author's error caused the digits in the Related-Unfamiliar condition to be transposed. The correct table is presented in this erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1994-04290-001.) Tested the assumptions that (1) only whole word orthographic knowledge can produce priming and (2) it is automatic. Two experiments with 20 adult Japanese readers were conducted in the context of reading Japanese Kana. Results show that, taken alone, neither the presence nor the absence of priming effects in oral reading permits an inference as to whether the addressed or assembled routine is used. Converging operations that do permit such an inference are reported. The data support the view that (1) components of the word recognition system operate interactively such that use of the assembled routine yields priming under certain conditions and (2) normal readers of a shallow orthography use a nonsemantic, whole-word pathway to name words. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constraints on computational models of basic processes in reading.

There are numerous reports in the visual word recognition literature that the joint effects of various factors are additive on reaction time. A central claim by D. C. Plaut and J. R. Booth (2000, 2006) is that their parallel distributed processing model simulates additive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency in the context of lexical decision. If correct, this success would have important implications for computational accounts of reading processes. However, the results of further simulations with this model undermine this claim given that the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency yield a nonmonotonic function (underadditivity, additivity, and overadditivity) depending on the size of the stimulus quality effect, whereas skilled readers yield additivity more broadly. The implications of these results both locally and more globally are discussed, and a number of other issues are noted. Additivity of factor effects constitutes a benchmark that computational accounts should strive to meet. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

DRC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud.

This article describes the Dual Route Cascaded (DRC) model, a computational model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. The DRC is a computational realization of the dual-route theory of reading, and is the only computational model of reading that can perform the 2 tasks most commonly used to study reading: lexical decision and reading aloud. For both tasks, the authors show that a wide variety of variables that influence human latencies influence the DRC model's latencies in exactly the same way. The DRC model simulates a number of such effects that other computational models of reading do not, but there appear to be no effects that any other current computational model of reading can simulate but that the DRC model cannot. The authors conclude that the DRC model is the most successful of the existing computational models of reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive Activation in Visual Word Recognition: Constraints Imposed by the Joint Effects of Spatial Attention and Semantics.

Two lexical-decision experiments investigated the effects of semantic priming and stimulus intensity when target location varied and was cued by an abrupt onset. In Experiment 1, the spatial cue was a good predictor of target location, and in Experiment 2 it was not. The results indicate that word recognition processes were postponed until spatial attention was focused on the target and that whether attention further affected word recognition depended on cue validity. The joint effects of cue validity and priming interacted when cue validity was high but were additive when cue validity was low. The joint effects of stimulus intensity and semantic priming also varied according to cue validity (i.e., interactive when high and additive when low). The results are discussed in terms of their implications for visual word recognition, the distinction between exogenous and endogenous spatial attention, and how attention is affected by visual word recognition processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the additive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency in lexical decision: Evidence for opposing interactive influences revealed by RT distributional analyses.

The joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency in lexical decision were examined in 4 experiments as a function of nonword type (legal nonwords, e.g., BRONE, vs. pseudohomophones, e.g., BRANE). When familiarity was a viable dimension for word-nonword discrimination, as when legal nonwords were used, additive effects of stimulus quality and word frequency were observed in both means and distributional characteristics of the response-time distributions. In contrast, when the utility of familiarity was undermined by using pseudohomophones, additivity was observed in the means but not in distributional characteristics. Specifically, opposing interactive effects in the underlying distribution were observed, producing apparent additivity in means. These findings are consistent with the suggestion that, when familiarity is deemphasized in lexical decision, cascaded processing between letter and word levels is in play, whereas, when familiarity is a viable dimension for word-nonword discrimination, processing is discrete. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word recognition: From letters to meaning.

Reviews the book, Basic Processes in Reading Visual Word Recognition by Derek Besner and Glyn W. Humphreys (see record 1990-99017-000). While there has been an increase in the amount of work on many different aspects of reading, as Besner and Humphreys point out in the overview to their book, the vast majority of the research on the topic of reading in the past twenty years has been concerned with the processes involved in word recognition. For this reason, Besner and Humphreys have attempted to bring together studies on topics which are both relevant to current debates in the field of word recognition, and which are likely to be important for future developments in the field. They have compiled an edited volume consisting of their overview and eight additional chapters. The editors have attempted to span the continuum of processes involved in word recognition and thus have included chapters which cover topics ranging from the visual analysis of words, to those on the influence of semantic factors on word recognition. The authors of these chapters comprise an impressive list of researchers in the field of word recognition, with the majority of chapters being authored by leading researchers on the topic. Given the stature of the authors and the range of topics covered, in theory this volume should provide a very thorough overview of current theory and research on reading. There is no question that each of the chapters is interesting and important in its own right. However, in practice the volume as a whole fell somewhat short of my expectations. The different tacts taken by different authors has resulted in a very uneven coverage of the current debates in the field. Notwithstanding these criticisms, I am sure that the majority of researchers in this field will consider this volume to be an important contribution. The book would provide a very useful addition to graduate courses in cognitive sciences and as a supplemental text for an undergraduate course on the psychology of reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Models of reading aloud: Dual-route and parallel-distributed-processing approaches.

It has often been argued that various facts about skilled reading aloud cannot be explained by any model unless that model possesses a dual-route architecture (lexical and nonlexical routes from print to speech). This broad claim has been challenged by M. S. Seidenberg and J. L. McClelland (1989, 1990). Their model has but a single route from print to speech, yet, they contend, it can account for major facts about reading that have hitherto been claimed to require a dual-route architecture. The authors identify 6 of these major facts about reading. The 1-route model proposed by Seidenberg and McClelland can account for the 1st of these but not the remaining 5. Because models with dual-route architectures can explain all 6 of these basic facts about reading, the authors suggest that this remains the viable architecture for any tenable model of skilled reading and learning to read. The dual-route cascaded model, a computational version of the dual-route model, is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Case mixing and the task-sensitive disruption of lexical processing.

MiXeD-cAsE stimuli are often used in reading research to investigate which characteristics of a word's visual form are important to its speed of processing. In this article, the effects of case mixing on a variety of lexical tasks was examined. Lexical decision was found to be more disrupted by case mixing than was word naming or semantic categorization. However, where word naming was shown to be purely lexical, it too was affected to a greater extent than categorization. Case mixing and word frequency interacted in sublexical naming but were additive in lexical naming, lexical decision, and semantic categorization. Case mixing did not interact with spelling-to-sound regularity or eradicate homophone and pseudohomophone effects. It is concluded that case mixing disrupts both early letter coding and a familiarity check mechanism (D. Besner & R. S. McCann, 1987). Semantic and syntactic processing continues normally following the disrupted production of abstract letter codes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and the variability of word associates.

15 Ss who scored high on the Taylor MA scale and 15 Ss who scored low on the MA scale were given a word associate task. The highly anxious Ss tended to have sets of word associates lower in intersubject variability than the nonanxious Ss for stimulus words that elicited sets of word associates that are low in variability. Highly anxious Ss tended to give sets of word associates higher in intersubject variability than nonanxious Ss for stimulus words that elicited sets of word associates that are high in intersubject variability. A 2nd experiment reports data indicating a relationship between inter- and intrasubject variability of word associates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading aloud is not automatic: Processing capacity is required to generate a phonological code from print.

The present experiments tested the claim that phonological recoding occurs "automatically" by assessing whether it uses central attention in the context of the psychological refractory period paradigm. Task 1 was a tone discrimination task and Task 2 was reading aloud. The joint effects of long-lag word repetition priming and stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) were underadditive in Experiment 1, suggesting that an early component of lexical processing does not use central attention. In contrast, nonword letter length and grapheme-phoneme complexity yielded additive effects with SOA in Experiments 2, 3, and 4, suggesting that assembled phonology uses central attention. Further, orthographic neighborhood density also yielded additive effects with SOA in Experiments 5, 6, and 7, suggesting that lexical contributions to phonological recoding use central attention. Taken together, the results of these experiments are inconsistent with the widespread claim that phonological codes are assembled and/or addressed automatically. It is suggested that "automaticity" should be replaced by accounts that make more specific claims about how processing unfolds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of varying stimulus rate and duration on brain activity during reading

The effect of the presentation rate and exposure duration of visually presented words on brain activity was investigated using positron emission tomography. Subjects either read aloud or silently mouthed the names of words. In regions associated with early visual analysis, activity increased with both rate and duration; in regions associated with response generation, activity increased with increasing rate but was unaffected by duration; and in regions associated with word recognition, activity decreased with increasing duration. The variable responses of different brain regions illustrate the functional segregation of these regions. Of particular interest was the dissociation between activity in the posterior fusiform gyri and that in the medial lingual gyrus--in the former, activity increased with rate and duration but the latter was unaffected by either variable. This finding suggests that word processing in the lingual gyrus during reading is distinct from that in the posterior fusiform gyri. A further observation was that during reading aloud, when subjects can hear the sound of their own voice, the response in the primary auditory cortices increased with stimulus rate, demonstrating that subjects process the sound of their own voice in a qualitatively similar way to words spoken by another.