The role of spatial attention in visual word processing.

Ss made lexical decisions on a target letter string presented above or below fixation. In Exps 1 and 2, target location was cued 100 msec in advance of target onset. Responses were faster on validly than on invalidly cued trials. In Exp 3, the target was sometimes accompanied by irrelevant stimuli on the other side of fixation; in such cases, responses were slowed (a spatial filtering effect). Both cuing and filtering effects on response time were additive with effects of word frequency and lexical status (words vs nonwords). These findings are difficult to reconcile with claims that spatial attention is less involved in processing familiar words than in unfamiliar words and nonwords. The results can be reconciled with a late-selection locus of spatial attention only with difficulty but are easily explained by early selection 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)     

Levels of representation in visual word recognition: a dissociation between morphological and semantic processing

A robust semantic priming effect typically occurs in visual word recognition if the prime is read before a response to the target. However, this effect is dramatically reduced if a letter search is performed on the prime prior to responding to the target. Three lexical decision experiments document the new observation that morphological priming is preserved following letter search on the prime. This dissociation between morphological and semantic priming following letter search can be understood in the context of an interactive activation framework. In addition, the implications of these results for connectionist and compound cue accounts of word recognition, as well as the issue of automaticity in word recognition, are discussed.     

The cognitive correlates of third-grade skill in arithmetic, algorithmic computation, and arithmetic word problems.

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive correlates of 3rd-grade skill in arithmetic, algorithmic computation, and arithmetic word problems. Third graders (N = 312) were measured on language, nonverbal problem solving, concept formation, processing speed, long-term memory, working memory, phonological decoding, and sight word efficiency as well as on arithmetic, algorithmic computation, and arithmetic word problems. Teacher ratings of inattentive behavior also were collected. Path analysis indicated that arithmetic was linked to algorithmic computation and to arithmetic word problems and that inattentive behavior independently predicted all 3 aspects of mathematics performance. Other independent predictors of arithmetic were phonological decoding and processing speed. Other independent predictors of arithmetic word problems were nonverbal problem solving, concept formation, sight word efficiency, and language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the nonautomaticity of visual word processing: Electrophysiological evidence that word processing requires central attention.

The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to determine the degree to which people can process words while devoting central attention to another task. Experiments 1-4 measured the N400 effect, which is sensitive to the degree of mismatch between a word and the current semantic context. Experiment 5 measured the P3 difference between low- and high-frequency words. Because these effects can occur only if a word has been identified, both ERP components index word processing. The authors found that the N400 effect (Experiments 1, 3, and 4) and the P3 difference (Experiment 5) were strongly attenuated for Task 2 words presented nearly simultaneously with Task 1. No such attenuation was found when the Task 1 stimulus was presented but required no response (Experiment 2). Strong attenuation was also evident when the Task 2 word was presented before the Task 1 stimulus (Experiment 4), suggesting that central resources are not allocated to stimuli first-come, first-served but rather are strategically locked to Task 1. The authors conclude that visual word processing is not fully automatic but rather requires access to limited central attentional resources. (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)     

Whole word, frequency-general phonology in semantic processing of Chinese characters.

Two experiments were conducted to examine the locus of the phonological and semantic interference effects in Chinese reported by C. A. Perfetti and S. Zhang (see record 1995-20076-001). Both experiments found that phonological effects in semantic judgments were general across word frequency and independent of component phonology, thus localizing phonological interference at the whole-character level. However, effects of component phonology were obtained for low-frequency characters when pronunciation judgments were made. The results are consistent with the assumption that phonology is activated at 2 levels in Chinese reading, 1 at the whole character level and 1 at the phonetic component level. A strong semantic interference was also found in both experiments, implying that both phonology and semantics are automatically activated. The constituency model provides a framework to explain the pervasive word-level phonology seen across writing systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The lateral septal nucleus: its morphological and functional organization and its role in the formation of chronorhythms

The lateral septal nucleus (LSN) is the largest septal nucleus and occupies one of the most strategically important positions in the forebrain, connecting the structures of the limbic system with different sites of the brain stem. Such a situation obliges LSN not only to participate in the regulation, but also to implement overall coordination and modulation of various visceral and somatic functions. The review deals with the general characteristic of the septal complex, the functional morphology, pre- and postnatal ontogenesis, afferent and efferent connections, mediator and modulator nature of LSN fibers. Special attention is paid to the participation of LSN in the neuroendocrine regulation of the sexual system. On the basis of literature and our own experimental findings it is shown that the LSN is a chronoregulatory structure which is responsible for the biorhythmologic organization of the functions of the mammalian organism.     

Lesbian erotic role identification: Behavioral, morphological, and hormonal correlates.

Lesbian scholars hotly debate the validity of "butch" and "femme" erotic roles. Although some dismiss them as social constructs, others maintain they are natural expressions of lesbian sexuality. The authors compared self-described butch and femme lesbians on gender-discriminating behavioral, morphological, and hormonal measures. Butch and femme lesbians did not differ from heterosexual women on sex role personality traits, depressive symptomology, eating disorders, or body dissatisfaction. Butch lesbians, however, recalled more childhood gender-atypical behavior and had higher waist-to-hip ratios, higher saliva testosterone levels, and less desire to give birth. These findings support the validity of butch–femme classification and suggest that butch lesbians are more male-typical compared to femme lesbians. The butch-femme classification may reflect a within-group difference caused by differential exposure to prenatal androgens. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of word storage in the permanent memory of nonpsychotic schizophrenics.

Conducted 2 experiments to assess the storage structure of common English words in the memory of young nonpsychotic schizophrenics. 37 schizophrenic and 12 nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients and 36 normals were Ss in the 2 experiments. Ss in both experiments sorted words on the basis of the similarity of relatedness they perceived, but Ss in Exp II performed this task under time pressure. Assuming that the structure underlying these sortings reflects the storage structure of memory, a method of cluster analysis was applied to the data. The structural features extracted for all Ss were very similar to each other. A group difference was found in the S's sorting strategy, but its effect on the main findings was minimal. It is concluded that the storage structure of words in the memory of schizophrenics is probably intact. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of talker-specific information in word segmentation by infants.

Infants' representations of the sound patterns of words were explored by examining the effects of talker variability on the recognition of words in fluent speech. Infants were familiarized with isolated words (e.g., cup and dog) from 1 talker and then heard 4 passages produced by another talker, 2 of which included the familiarized words. At 7.5 months of age, infants attended longer to passages with the familiar words for materials produced by 2 female talkers or 2 male talkers but not for materials by a male and a female talker. These findings suggest a strong role for talker-voice similarity in infants' ability to generalize word tokens. By 10.5 months, infants could generalize different instances of the same word across talkers of the opposite sex. One implication of the present results is that infants' initial representations of the sound structure of words not only include phonetic information but also indexical properties relating to the vocal characteristics of particular talkers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual word recognition: A dissociation of lexical and semantic processing.

These experiments illustrate 2 new dissociations in word-recognition tasks. In one, relatedness facilitated lexical decision but impaired searching for a common letter in the same pairs of words (a cross-over interaction between relatedness and task). In the other dissociation, lexicality facilitated performance (words processed faster than nonwords) while relatedness impaired performance (related words processed slower than unrelated words) in the letter search task. Two classes of explanation are discussed. In the first, the perception of relatedness serves to focus attention to the word level, thereby making explicit letter level processing more difficult and/or increasing the number of competing lexical entries via priming. In the second, spreading inhibition makes related words more difficult to process than unrelated words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of orthographic and phonological codes in the word and the pseudoword superiority effect: An analysis by means of multinomial processing tree models.

Central to the current accounts of the word and the pseudoword superiority effect (WSE and PWSE, respectively) is the concept of a unitized code that is less susceptible to masking than single-letter codes. Current explanations of the WSE and PWSE assume that this unitized code is orthographic, explaining these phenomena by the assumption of dual read-out from unitized and single-letter codes. In this article, orthographic dual read-out models are compared with a phonological dual read-out model (which is based on the assumption that the 1st unitized code is phonological). From this phonological code, an orthographic code is derived, through either lexical access or assembly. Comparison of the orthographic and phonological dual read-out models was performed by formulating both models as multinomial processing tree models. From an application of these models to the data of 2 letter identification experiments, it was clear that the orthographic dual read-out models are insufficient as an explanation of the PWSE, whereas the phonological dual read-out model is sufficient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Crossover: The role of morphological awareness in French immersion children's reading.

Achieving biliteracy is a remarkable accomplishment, and it is important to understand the range of factors that permit its successful realization. The authors investigated a factor known to affect reading in monolingual children that has received little attention in the second-language literature: morphological awareness. The researchers tracked the relationships between performance on past tense analogy tasks (the measure of morphological awareness) and reading of English and French in a group of 58 French immersion children across Grades 1-3. Early measures of English morphological awareness were significantly related to both English and French reading, after controlling for several variables. In contrast, early measures of French morphological awareness were significantly related to French reading only. Later measures of morphological awareness in French were significantly related to English and French reading. These relationships persisted even after controlling for several variables. Results of this study suggest that morphological awareness can be applied to reading across orthographies and that this relationship changes as children build their language and literacy skills. These findings are discussed in light of current theories of second-language reading acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impression formation: The role of expressive behavior.

35 female and 27 male undergraduates completed the Personality Research Form, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and Self-Monitoring Scale. Ss were also assessed on posed emotional sending ability and on physical attractiveness. Ss were then videotaped while giving a spontaneous "explanation." Trained coders measured 5 separate nonverbal cue factors displayed by the Ss in the videotapes. Groups of untrained judges viewed the tapes and rated their impressions of the Ss on scales of likability, speaking effectiveness, and expressivity-confidence. Males who were nonverbally skilled and extraverted tended to display more outwardly focused and fluid expressive behaviors, and made more favorable impressions on judges, than did males who scored low on the measures of nonverbal skills and extraversion. Females who were nonverbally skilled displayed more facial expressiveness, which led to more favorable initial impressions. It is suggested that these sex differences may reflect basic differences in the acquisition and use of expressive nonverbal cues by males and females. (45 ref) (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)     

Suedohomofoan effects in visual word recognition: Evidence for phonological processing.

Investigated the pseudohomophone effect, which is considered to be evidence that phonological recoding occurs in the lexical decision task in which a letter string like brane is identified as a nonword. 22 undergraduates read 156 letter strings, half of which were words, and identified them as words or nonwords. Half of the nonwords were pseudohomophones like brane, which sounds like a real word but is not spelled like one; half were strings like slint, which neither looks nor sounds like a real word. Response time to pseudohomophones was slower than response time to other nonwords. The interpretation of this result is that the letter string brane is transformed into a phonological code that accesses the entry for brain in a phonological lexicon, thus necessitating a time-consuming spelling check to avoid making a false positive response. Since letter strings like slint have no lexical entries, a postaccess spelling check is not necessary. Thus, the pseudohomophone effect reflects phonological processing. (French abstract) (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of phonetic and orthographic similarity in picture–word interference.

Two experiments with 40 Canadian undergraduates examined the effects of phonetic and orthographic similarity between the word and the picture's name to investigate the role these factors play in the picture-naming process. Results show that both orthographic and phonetic similarity facilitated picture naming in comparison to an unrelated word condition. Data suggest that this facilitation is not an output phenomenon and, as such, can be separated from the response-competition processes that lead to the basic interference effect. Instead, the locus of these effects appears to be the name-retrieval process, with orthographic and phonetic information from the word aiding in the search for the picture's name. (French abstract) (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Loss and/or formation of antioxidants during food processing and storage

The functional parameters influence the ventilation of the airways and determine the amount of aerosol penetrating there and the speed of airflow. 100 observations were made, on ten healthy subjects (5 men, 5 women) and with two breathing patterns (tidal volume 500 ml, respiration rate 16 min-1, and tidal volume 2000 ml, respiration rate 8 min-1). Inhaled and exhaled air were sampled by a Royco 518 sampler and the number, concentrations and particle size distributions in five particle size ranges were determined. In all the measurements the fraction deposited was higher in higher tidal volumes, especially in the class of the size range 0.5-1.75 microns. For tidal volumes of 2000 ml the deposited fraction for the women was greater than that for the men.     

Level of processing, type of processing, and the repetition effect in free recall.

Conducted 2 experiments, involving 45 high school and 60 college students, on the possibility that the effect of repetition on the long-term retention of common nouns depends upon the form of study being used. In Exp I, 3 levels of processing were combined factorially with 3 degrees of repetition in an incidental-learning task. Results indicate that semantic processing yields a larger repetition effect than "minimal" structural processing. Exp II, which entailed the factorial crossing of level of processing with type of processing, also showed that level of processing interacts with repetition to determine long-term retention. Type of processing, however, failed to have any effect. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)