Context effects in syntactic ambiguity resolution: Discourse and semantic influences in parsing reduced relative clauses.

Examined how certain types of semantic and discourse context affect the processing of relative clauses that are temporarily ambiguous between a relative clause and a main clause. Three experiments with 104 undergraduates explored whether referential contexts can influence parsing decisions under conditions in which (1) norms are used to establish that the contexts provide constraint at the point of ambiguity and (2) the 2-word format facilitates the availability of the less frequent relative clause structure. Results demonstrate that all types of context can have early effects on syntactic ambiguity resolution during on-line reading comprehension. Results are discussed within a constraint-based framework for ambiguity resolution. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Priming effects in semantic classification tasks.

Six experiments were conducted on priming in semantic classification tasks that allow free play between perceptual and semantic processes. Priming was greatest when words were repeated on the same semantic task at study and test but was absent when repeated words were classified on different semantic tasks (size and man-made; Exp 1). Thus, merely repeating perceptual information is not sufficient to produce priming. Priming was obtained, however, when items on the same semantic task were repeated in different formats (words and pictures; Exp 2). Consistent with stage models of single-word reading, priming was obtained when a semantic classification task was followed by a word form task (i.e., lexical classification or naming) but not when it was preceded by the word form task (Exps 3 and 4). Priming was also found across lexical tasks that both involve the word form (Exp 5) and across classification tasks that refer to the same semantic domain (overall size and relative dimensions; Exp 6). Results suggest that priming is determined by the overlap in the component processes of the study and test tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New limits to automaticity: Context modulates semantic priming.

It is widely assumed that semantic priming in visual word recognition is automatic when the task requires word-level analysis. The present experiments show that this conclusion is too strong. Whether brief-duration primes facilitated the processing of related targets in lexical decision depended on the context in which the primes were seen. Semantic priming occurred if Ss saw only brief primes (blocked condition) but was minimal if longer primes were presented as well (mixed condition). Converging operations indicate that this modulation of semantic priming reflects operations beyond the lexical level rather than early encoding deficits. Rather than being automatic, semantic priming depends on the context in which a word is read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nicotine effects on general semantic priming in Parkinson's disease.

In young healthy nonsmokers, effects of nicotine on semantic processing have been observed under strategy-based priming procedures but not under more general priming procedures (Holmes, Chenery, & Copland, 2008; Holmes, Chenery, & Copland, 2010). Effects of nicotine under general priming procedures, however, may be mediated by baseline priming levels that are below optimum such as when compromised by disease. Nicotinic mechanisms may be involved in the cognitive sequalae of Parkinson's disease (PD). Evidence suggests that semantic processing may be compromised in PD but the potential benefit of nicotinic stimulation is unknown. This study investigated the effects of nicotine on semantic processing in nonsmokers with PD (n = 12) and nonsmoking matched controls (n = 17) using general priming procedures. Specifically, an automatic priming task (0.15 relatedness proportion, RP, and 200 ms stimulus onset asynchrony, SOA) and a controlled priming task (0.8 RP and 1000 ms SOA) were used. Prime-target category relation (category related, noncategory related) was also manipulated. Transdermal nicotine patches (7 mg/24 h) were administered in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. For the automatic task, nicotine did not influence priming effects for PD. Unexpectedly, compromised automatic priming for controls was ameliorated. For the controlled task, nicotine influenced priming effects for PD but not controls. The patterns of priming and nicotine effects across the tasks suggest an age-related slowing of the rate of semantic activation for controls, which may be exacerbated in PD. Overall, the findings indicate that nicotine can improve compromised semantic processing in PD, and also influence semantic processing in healthy older individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects in social perception.

"Concerned with the problem of field determinants of social perception, this study investigated contextual effects on judgments of photographs of persons. Photographs, designated as targets, were presented in contexts of two other photographs which were expected, on the basis of previous research, to vary in their probability of eliciting a particular judgment along a specified bipolar trait dimension. Data obtained clearly supported the hypothesized inverse relationships between the probability of the context eliciting a particular judgment and that of the target eliciting a similar judgment." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nature of priming effects in semantic matching.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 12(4) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2008-10970-001). The Appendix table was constructed incorrectly. The correct table appears in the erratum.] Studied priming effects in a semantic matching task that distinguished visually based matching processes from nominally and semantically based matching processes, using 24 undergraduates. Ss judged semantic matches for 3 types of word pairs: identical (e.g., robin–robin), same category (e.g., robin–sparrow), and different category (e.g., robin–truck). Visual matching was isolated by comparing performance between physical identity (e.g., robin–robin) and nominal identity (e.g., robin–ROBIN) pairs. Physical identity pairs, which allowed visually based matching, exhibited an interaction between priming and the typicality of category exemplars that was absent in nominal identity and same-category pairs. Priming had no effect on nominal identity pairs. For same-category pairs, which required semantically based matching, priming produced facilitation at all levels of typicality. The results bring the semantic matching paradigm into agreement with other procedures that show that priming facilitates processing for all related targets. Categories and exemplars used as stimulus materials are appended. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relaxation as a factor in semantic desensitization.

Assigned 32 female undergraduates with spider phobias to 1 of 4 groups: semantic desensitization (SD) and relaxation, SD and no relaxation, control-relaxation, and control-no relaxation. SD failed to promote modification of evaluative meanings evoked by the feared object. There appears to be a critical need to reassess the effectiveness of SD with other populations displaying varying types and amounts of fear. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects in judgments of causation.

It is hypothesized that causal explanations for an occurrence vary as a function of the causal background against which the occurrence is considered. Three experiments are presented that test propositions regarding the operation of the causal background in the selection of causal explanations. Findings indicate that factors previously shown to affect subjects' attributions—specifically, role (actor vs. observer), covariation information (consensus and distinctiveness), and quality of performance (positive vs. negative)—may do so by guiding subjects' selection of a causal background. Evidence indicates that these factors may not have the predicted effect on subjects' attributions when competing cues, such as context or wording of the causal question, suggest the relevance of conflicting causal backgrounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects in left-right shape discrimination.

The difficulty of discriminating between left–right orientations of a shape has usually been attributed to symmetrical coding in the brain or to the nature of perceptual learning. However, recent work on the context-dependent nature of the difficulty challenges such explanations and supports a more cognitive approach to the problem. The present work examined the basis for left–right difficulty in the standard two-choice task (stimuli aligned side by side) in children of 3 to 4 years. Experiment 1 found that children who learned the task with the easy, single-stimulus procedure could generalize to the difficult, two-choice task. Subsequent experiments found that the difficulty in learning the two-choice task could not be attributed to the attentional demands of the two stimuli, nor to the use of the second stimulus as a spatial referent for defining orientation. The data suggested that the standard two-choice task is difficult because it promotes the use of two competing orientation judgments. We conclude that the difficulty of left–right judgments lies in the cognitive demands of the task and is to be understood in the same terms as other problems in cognitive development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bilingual dual-coding theory and semantic repetition effects on recall.

A bilingual version of dual-coding theory was tested with French-English bilinguals who free recalled lists of concrete and abstract words repeated at different interitem lags. Repetitions involved the same words, translation equivalents, or same-language synonyms. The results extended previous findings and generally supported predictions from dual-coding theory and the independence storage hypothesis of bilingual memory: (a) Relative to single words, semantic repetitions (translations and synonyms) had additive effects on type recall even at short lags, whereas identical repetitions were less than additive at zero lag; (b) recall of identical repetitions increased more with lag than recall of semantic repetitions, so that differences between these conditions were diminished and sometimes reversed; (c) semantic repetition effects were weaker for synonyms than for translations, especially for abstract words; and (d) intrusion errors and pair recall were higher for translations than for synonyms, especially for concrete words at long lags. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects on choice

Four pigeons responded on a concurrent-chains schedule in four experiments that examined whether the effectiveness of a stimulus as a conditioned reinforcer is best described by a global approach, as measured by the average interreinforcement interval, or by a local contextual approach, as measured by the onset of the stimulus preceding the conditioned reinforcer. The interreinforcement interval was manipulated by the inclusion of an intertrial interval, which increased the overall time to reinforcement but did not change the local contingencies on a given trial A global analysis predicted choice for the richer alternative to decrease with the inclusion of an intertrial interval, whereas a local analysis predicted no change in preference. Experiment 1 examined sensitivity to intertrial intervals when each was signaled by the same houselight that operated throughout the session. In Experiment 2, the intertrial interval always was signaled by the stimulus correlated with the richer terminal link. In Experiment 3, the intertrial interval was signaled by the keylights correlated with the initial links and two novel houselights. Experiment 4 provided free food pseudorandomly during the intertrial interval. In all experiments, subjects' preferences were consistent with a local analysis of choice in concurrent chains. These results are discussed in terms of delay-reduction theory, which traditionally has failed to distinguish global and local contexts.     

Adult aging effects on semantic and episodic priming in word recognition.

Two experiments compared automatic semantic and episodic priming effects in adult aging. In the 1st experiment, target words were semantically primed; in the 2nd experiment, targets were primed by repetition of semantically unrelated words. Both experiments involved a pronunciation task with response signals at fixed times following target onset. Consequently, priming was measured as improvement in the percentage of correct responses. Priming was also calculated with speed–accuracy measures of intercept and slope. Both types of priming effect were significant in the percentage correct and slope measures, but no age group differences were found. Furthermore, the magnitudes of the priming effects were equivalent. The age-resistant nature of semantic and episodic priming, as well as evidence for a common theoretical mechanism, is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anomia as a marker of distinct semantic memory impairments in Alzheimer's disease and semantic dementia.

Objective: Many neurologically constrained models of semantic memory have been informed by two primary temporal lobe pathologies: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Semantic Dementia (SD). However, controversy persists regarding the nature of the semantic impairment associated with these patient populations. Some argue that AD presents as a disconnection syndrome in which linguistic impairment reflects difficulties in lexical or perceptual means of semantic access. In contrast, there is a wider consensus that SD reflects loss of core knowledge that underlies word and object meaning. Object naming provides a window into the integrity of semantic knowledge in these two populations. Method: We examined naming accuracy, errors and the correlation of naming ability with neuropsychological measures (semantic ability, executive functioning, and working memory) in a large sample of patients with AD (n = 36) and SD (n = 21). Results: Naming ability and naming errors differed between groups, as did neuropsychological predictors of naming ability. Despite a similar extent of baseline cognitive impairment, SD patients were more anomic than AD patients. Conclusions: These results add to a growing body of literature supporting a dual impairment to semantic content and active semantic processing in AD, and confirm the fundamental deficit in semantic content in SD. We interpret these findings as supporting of a model of semantic memory premised upon dynamic interactivity between the process and content of conceptual knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Milling and mechanical alloying of copper and some solution alloys seen as a thermomechanical process

During the milling of elemental copper or mixtures based on copper an intense cold worked structure is built up which leads to orientation dependent internal strains and an isotropic internal stress. The extent of this retained stress varies with alloying as the stacking fault energy changes and the rate of stress relaxation is altered. The material produced at this stage is of moderate grain size containing an intense dislocation cell structure. Examinations of other elemental metals show that the amount of internal stress and the final grain size vary according to the ease of dislocation relaxation are recrystallization processes. Annealing treatments given after milling lead to stress relaxation and simultaneously grain refinement by recrystallization may occur. According to these results milling and subsequent annealing can be regarded as a thermomechanical process allowing significant microstructural modifications.     

Processing differences as a function of item difficulty in verbal analogy performance.

Research based on componential models of analogical reasoning has typically been based on relatively easy items. Differences between individuals have been ascribed to execution efficiency of component processes within a single model. In the present study, we evaluated processing of verbal analogies by recording eye fixation patterns during problem solution. Problems represented a broad range of levels of difficulty. The findings on easier problems replicated previous work. On more difficult items, however, high verbal individuals tended to adapt their processing strategies to a much greater extent than did low verbal students. Skill differences were not attributable to initial encoding of the item, but rather to more thorough re-encoding of the stem and answers by the high verbal subjects. Current models cannot account for all individuals on all items when experimental items are more representative of aptitude test items. Instead, more complex models that incorporate both person and item characteristics need to be developed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental alcoholism and the effects of alcohol on mediated semantic priming.

In this study, researchers tested the effects of a moderate dose of alcohol on the spread of activation of associated information in memory using a mediated semantic priming task in which target words are preceded by primes that are either unrelated or indirectly related to the target. Male and female participants with or without a parental history (PH+ and PH-, respectively) of alcoholism were administered the priming task after consuming alcohol or a placebo beverage. Among PH- individuals, alcohol constrained the spread of activation of associated information, as manifested by a reduced priming effect. In contrast, alcohol enhanced priming effects among PH+ participants, though this latter effect appears to be due to a particularly slow response among these individuals to unprimed words. Results are discussed with regard to theories of alcohol's effects on cognitive processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial and semantic priming effects in tests of spatial knowledge.

In eight experiments we investigated spatial and semantic priming effects. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects made judgments about the locations of buildings on their campus and locations of states in the United States. We found that location judgments were faster when preceded by judgments about geographically near locations than by judgments about relatively far locations. In Experiments 3a, 3b, and 3c, subjects judged words as names of states of the United States or as nonstate words. No spatial priming effect was found in any experiment, nor was a priming effect found for nonstate words preceded by semantically related words. Experiment 4 compared spatial priming in a state–nonstate classification with a state-plus-location classification task. Spatial priming was found in the latter but not the former. These results are interpreted with an account that treats spatial and nonspatial knowledge as separate structures. Using the nonstate words of Experiment 3c, Experiments 5a and 5b together demonstrated semantic priming in a lexical decision task. The semantic priming results are interpreted with a postlexical checking-strategy account of semantic priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects on the processing of action-relevant object features.

In 4 experiments, we investigated the effects of object affordance in reach-to-grasp actions. Participants indicated whether a depicted small or large object was natural or manmade by means of different object-grasping responses (i.e., with a power or a precision grip). We observed that the size of the depicted object affected the grasping kinematics (grip aperture) and the reach-onset times of compatible and incompatible actions. Additional experiments showed that the effect of perceived object size on motor response was modulated by contextual action information and the observation of others’ actions with the object. Thus, beyond the observation of object affordance effects in natural grasping actions, this study suggests that the coupling between object perception and action is not static and obligatory. Behavioral effects of action-relevant object features seem rather to depend on contextual action information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects in Stroop-like word and picture processing.

Presents a series of 6 experiments in which Stroop-like effects were generated by modally pure color–color, picture–picture, and word–word stimuli instead of the usual modally mixed color–word or picture–word stimuli. Naming, reading, and categorization tasks were applied. The Stroop inhibition was preserved with these stimuli but unexpectedly showed a semantic gradient only in the naming and not in the reading task. Word categorizing was slower and more interference prone than picture categorizing. These and other results can be captured by a model with two main assumptions: (a) semantic memory and the lexicon are separate, and (b) words have privileged access to the lexicon, whereas pictures and colors have privileged access to the semantic network. Such a model is developed and put to an initial test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context switch effects on acquisition and extinction in human predictive learning.

Four experiments tested context switch effects on acquisition and extinction in human predictive learning. A context switch impaired probability judgments about a cue-outcome relationship when the cue was trained in a context in which a different cue underwent extinction. The context switch also impaired judgments about a cue trained in a context different from the extinction context, whenever this training was concurrent with extinction of another cue. After extinction, new cue-outcome relationships learned, even in a different task, became context specific. Moreover, renewal was consistently observed. It is suggested that context switch effects result from a process by which ambiguity leads participants to attend to the contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)