Orthographic Neighborhood Size Effect Research Articles

The Effects of Orthographic Neighborhood Size and the Influence of Individual Differences in Linguistic Skills During the Recognition of Chinese Words.

There are still inconsistencies as to whether frequency and orthographic neighborhood size affect the reading and recognition of Chinese words. In addition, research on Chinese reading still adheres to the view that “all skilled readers read in the same way” and pays little attention to the influence of individual differences in linguistic skills on word recognition. In this research, we studied the recognition of Chinese two-character words in a lexical decision task (LDT) by manipulating neighborhood size and word frequency and controlling the frequency of the initial constituent character. Individual differences in linguistic skills were assessed through tests of spelling and reading comprehension. The results showed that: (1) A larger orthographic neighborhood size of the initial character had a facilitative effect on Chinese word recognition. The orthographic neighborhood size effect is modulated by word frequency, but this modulation effect was not stable. (2) Spelling and reading comprehension skills are good indicators to assess individual differences in Chinese linguistic skills, and they are significantly correlated. (3) Individual differences in linguistic skills influence the neighborhood size effect, which is moderated by word frequency.

Exploring orthographic neighborhood size effects in a computational model of Chinese character naming

Orthographic neighborhood (N) size effects have been extensively studied in English consistently producing a facilitatory effect in word naming tasks. In contrast, several recent studies on Chinese character naming have demonstrated an inhibitory effect of neighborhood size. Response latencies tend to be inhibited by inconsistent characters with large neighborhoods relative to small neighborhoods. These differences in neighborhood effects between languages may depend on the characteristics (depth) of the mapping between orthography and phonology. To explore this, we first conducted a behavioral experiment to investigate the relationship between neighborhood size, consistency and reading response. The results showed an inhibitory effect of neighborhood size for inconsistent characters but a facilitatory effect for consistent characters. We then developed two computational models based on parallel distributed processing principles to try and capture the nature of the processing that leads to these results in Chinese character naming. Simulations using models based on the triangle model of reading indicated that consistency and neighborhood size interact with the division of labor between semantics and phonology to produce these effects.

Development of neural basis for chinese orthographic neighborhood size effect.

The brain activity of orthographic neighborhood size (N size) effect in Chinese character naming has been studied in adults, meanwhile behavioral studies have revealed a developmental trend of Chinese N-size effect in developing readers. However, it is unclear whether and how the neural mechanism of N-size effect changes in Chinese children along with development. Here we address this issue using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Forty-four students from the 3(rd) , 5(th) , and 7(th) grades were scanned during silent naming of Chinese characters. After scanning, all participants took part in an overt naming test outside the scanner, and results of the naming task showed that the 3(rd) graders named characters from large neighborhoods faster than those from small neighborhoods, revealing a facilitatory N-size effect; the 5(th) graders showed null N-size effect while the 7(th) graders showed an inhibitory N-size effect. Neuroimaging results revealed that only the 3(rd) graders exhibited a significant N-size effect in the left middle occipital activity, with greater activation for large N-size characters. Results of 5(th) and 7(th) graders showed significant N-size effects in the left middle frontal gyrus, in which 5(th) graders induced greater activation in large N-size condition than in small N-size condition, while 7(th) graders exhibited an opposite effect which was similar to the adult pattern reported in a previous study. The current findings suggested the transition from broadly tuned to finely tuned orthographic representation with reading development, and the inhibition from neighbors' phonology for higher graders. Hum Brain Mapp 37:632-647, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The role of orthographic neighborhood size effects in Chinese word recognition.

Previous studies about the orthographic neighborhood size (NS) in Chinese have overlooked the morphological processing, and the co-variation between the character frequency and the the NS. The present study manipulated the word frequency and the NS simultaneously, with the leading character frequency controlled, to explore their influences on word lexical decision (Experiment 1) and naming (Experiment 2). The results showed a robust effect that words with a larger NS produced shorter reaction time than those with a smaller NS, irrespective of the word frequency and the tasks. This facilitative effect may occur due to a semantic network formed by neighbor words, resulting in the semantic activation to accelerate the word recognition. Moreover, the comparison of the effect sizes of word frequency between the two tasks showed that lexical decision responses demonstrated a larger word frequency effect, indicating that the sub-word processing was involved in the multi-character word recognition.

Hemispheric differences in orthographic and semantic processing as revealed by event-related potentials

Differences in how the right and left hemispheres (RH, LH) apprehend visual words were examined using event-related potentials (ERPs) in a repetition paradigm with visual half-field (VF) presentation. In both hemispheres (RH/LVF, LH/RVF), initial presentation of items elicited similar and typical effects of orthographic neighborhood size, with larger N400s for orthographically regular items (words and pseudowords) than for irregular items (acronyms and meaningless illegal strings). However, hemispheric differences emerged on repetition effects. When items were repeated in the LH/RVF, orthographically regular items, relative to irregular items, elicited larger repetition effects on both the N250, a component reflecting processing at the level of visual form (orthography), and on the N400, which has been linked to semantic access. In contrast, in the RH/LVF, repetition effects were biased toward irregular items on the N250 and were similar in size across item types for the N400. The results suggest that processing in the LH is more strongly affected by wordform regularity than in the RH, either due to enhanced processing of familiar orthographic patterns or due to the fact that regular forms can be more readily mapped onto phonology.

Orthographic Neighborhood-Size Effects on the Reading Aloud of Italian Children With and Without Dyslexia

This study examines the effects of orthographic neighborhood size (N-size) in relationship with word frequency on the reading aloud of children with and without dyslexia whose language has a consistent orthography. Participants included 22 Italian fourth-grade children with dyslexia and 44 age-matched typically developing readers. Children with dyslexia read low-frequency words with high N-size faster than words that had no neighbors; by contrast, typically developing readers showed no N-size effects, irrespective of word frequency. The facilitating effect of N-size on low-frequency word reading in children with dyslexia indicates that they benefit from lexical activation spreading from dense neighborhoods.

The Characteristics of Chinese Orthographic Neighborhood Size Effect for Developing Readers

Orthographic neighborhood size (N size) effect in Chinese character naming has been studied in adults. In the present study, we aimed to explore the developmental characteristics of Chinese N size effect. One hundred and seventeen students (40 from the 3rd grade with mean age of 9 years; 40 from the 5th grade with mean age of 11 years; 37 from the 7th grade with mean age of 13 years) were recruited in the study. A naming task of Chinese characters was adopted to elucidate N-size- effect development. Reaction times and error rates were recorded. Results showed that children in the 3rd grade named characters from large neighborhoods faster than named those from small neighborhoods, revealing a facilitatory N size effect; the 5th graders showed null N size effect; while the 7th graders showed an inhibitory N size effect, with longer reaction times for the characters from large neighborhoods than for those from small neighborhoods. The change from facilitation to inhibition of neighborhood size effect across grades suggested the transition from broadly tuned to finely tuned lexical representation in reading development, and the possible inhibition from higher frequency neighbors for higher graders.

N400 solution effect of Chinese character fragments: An orthographic neighborhood size effect

In this study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) elicited by fragments of Chinese single-character words were simultaneously recorded while participants completed a delayed character-matching task as fast as possible, wherein probe characters were matched with their prior fragments. The number of solutions for such fragments was manipulated. Results indicate that fragments completed with several characters elicited greater N400 than did fragments with a single solution. Behavioral results demonstrated that “multiple-solution” responses were slower and had lower accuracy rates than the “one-solution” responses. In this article, both behavioral and N400 solution-effects are interpreted to provide evidence that supports the interactive activation model (IAM) but counters the efficacy of serial search models.

Orthographic and phonological neighborhood size effects for Japanese Katakana words in a lexical decision task

In the present study, we examined the effects of orthographic and phonological neighborhood sizes for Japanese Katakana words using a lexical decision task. Kawakami (2002) reported an inhibitory orthographic neighborhood size effect along with a null phonological neighborhood size effect in his lexical decision tasks. In contrast, Grainger, Muneaux, Farioli, and Ziegler (2005) reported an interaction between orthographic and phonological neighborhood sizes in a lexical decision task. Therefore, we re-examined the effects of orthographic and phonological neighborhood sizes for low-frequency Katakana words in a lexical decision task. Consistent with Grainger et al., we found the interaction between orthographic and phonological neighborhood sizes, indicating that lexical decision performance for Katakana words is modulated by the nature of orthographic-phonological relationships.

Orthographic neighborhood size effect in Chinese character naming: Orthographic and phonological activations

The present study examined the effects of orthographic neighborhood (N) size on the cognitive processes underlying Chinese character reading. Previous research has shown increasing N size facilitates word naming and recognition performance in alphabetic languages. Experiment 1 revealed that a large N size was associated with a general inhibition of processes underlying character reading, in contrast to previous findings with alphabetic languages. This inhibitory effect was influenced by regularity and consistency. Experiment 2 sought to assess the effects of higher-frequency neighbors on character naming performance. The results revealed that higher-frequency neighbors with different pronunciation to the target interfered with the phonological retrieval of targets. We propose that this type of interference may have caused the N size effect observed in Experiment 1. The results of Experiment 3 revealed that a large N size facilitated target naming in the absence of higher-frequency neighbors. The current results shed light on the processes underlying character naming, and we propose possible cognitive mechanisms of the N size effect on Chinese character naming.

Neural correlates of the orthographic neighborhood size effect in Chinese

Word recognition research with alphabetical scripts has revealed a facilitatory neighborhood size effect, whereby naming of words with more orthographic neighbors is faster than that of words with fewer neighbors. Preliminary behavioral evidence in Chinese revealed both facilitatory and inhibitory neighborhood size effects, depending on whether there are higher-frequency neighbors (HFNs) than the target. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the neural substrates of the neighborhood size effect with silent naming. Neighborhood size and the HFN factor were factorially manipulated. Behavioral results replicated previous findings showing that larger neighborhood size facilitated naming in the absence of HFNs, but inhibited naming in their presence. Imaging results identified greater activation in the left middle frontal gyrus for small than larger neighborhood size, and bilateral inferior frontal activations for the with-HFN condition as compared with the without-HFN condition. Critically, there was an interaction in the right middle occipital gyrus showing greater activation for large than for small neighborhood size in the absence of HFNs but no neighborhood size effect in their presence. The results support a proposal that, in addition to a facilitatory contribution from orthographic activation of neighborhoods, naming is also affected by whether there are higher-frequency neighbors, particularly in scripts with deep orthography, where orthographically similar words can be pronounced very differently.

Pathway control in visual word processing: Converging evidence from recognition memory

The extent to which readers can exert strategic control over oral reading processes is a matter of debate. According to the pathway control hypothesis, the relative contributions of the lexical and nonlexical pathways can be modulated by the characteristics of the context stimuli being read, but an alternative time criterion model is also a viable explanation of past results. In Experiment 1, subjects named high- and low-frequency regular words in the context of either low-frequency exception words (e.g., pint) or nonwords (e.g., flirp). Frequency effects (faster pronunciation latencies for high-frequency words) were attenuated in the nonword context, consistent with the notion that nonwords emphasize the characteristics of the frequency-insensitive nonlexical pathway. Importantly, we also assessed memory for targets, and a similar attenuation of the frequency effect in recognition memory was observed in the nonword condition. Converging evidence was obtained in a second experiment in which a variable that was more sensitive to the nonlexical pathway (orthographic neighborhood size) was manipulated. The results indicated that both speeded pronunciation performance and memory performance were relatively attenuated in the low-frequency exception word context in comparision with the nonword context. The opposing influences of list context type for word frequency and orthographic neighborhood size effects in speeded pronunciation and memory performance provide strong support for the pathway control model, as opposed to the time criterion model.

Inhibition and facilitation in visual word recognition: Prefrontal contribution to the orthographic neighborhood size effect

The recognition of words is a central component of language processing. A major role for visual word recognition has been attributed to the orthographic neighbors of a word, i.e., words that are orthographically similar to a target word. It has been demonstrated that the presence of orthographic neighbors facilitates the recognition of words, but hinders the rejection of nonwords. It is therefore assumed that representations of orthographic neighbors are at least partially activated during word recognition, and that they influence word recognition depending on the specific task context. In the present study, we used fMRI to examine the neural bases of the effect of orthographic neighborhood size on speeded lexical decisions to words and nonwords. Our results demonstrate lexicality×neighborhood size interactions in mid-dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortex, suggesting the involvement of a domain-general, extra-lexical process for orthographic neighborhood effects on word and nonword processing. This result challenges computational models that offer purely lexical accounts of the orthographic neighborhood effect and suggests an important role for executive control functions during visual word recognition.

Orthographic neighborhood size effects in recognition memory

This study argues for the importance of physical word features in recognition memory by investigating the influence of orthographic distinctiveness. Experiment 1 demonstrated a mirror effect in ayes/no recognition test by manipulating orthographic neighborhood size. Words with small neighborhoods showed more hits and fewer false alarms than did words with larger neighborhoods. Experiment 2 replicated the neighborhood size mirror effect using null pairs in a forced choice recognition test. Experiment 3 required remember/know judgments in a yes/no recognition task. Experiment 4 used the same yes/no test as did Experiment 1, adding a study task that drew attention away from orthographic information in the study list. The mirror pattern disappeared with the addition of the study task.

Model-generated lexical activity predicts graded ERP amplitudes in lexical decision

Recent neurocognitive studies of visual word recognition provide information about neuronal networks correlated with processes involved in lexical access and their time course (e.g., [Holcomb, Ph.J., Grainger J. and O'Rourke, T. (2002). An Electrophysiological Study of the Effects of Orthographic Neighborhood Size on Printed Word Perception, J. of Cogn. Neurosci. 14 938–950; Binder, J.R., McKiernan, K.A., Parsons, M.E., Westbury, C.F., Possing, E.T., Kaufman, J.N. and Buchanan, L. (2003). Neural Correlates of Lexical Access during Visual Word Recognition, J. Cogn. Neurosci. 15 372–393.]). These studies relate the orthographic neighborhood density of letter strings to the amount of global lexical activity in the brain, generated by a hypothetical mental lexicon as speculated in an early paper by [Jacobs, A.M. and Carr, T.H. (1995). Mind mappers and cognitive modelers: Toward cross-fertilization, Behav. Brain. Sci. 18 362–363]. The present study uses model-generated stimuli theoretically eliciting graded global lexical activity and relates this activity to activation of lexical processing networks using event-related potentials (ERPs). The results from a lexical decision task provide evidence for an effect of lexicality around 350 ms post-stimulus and also a graded effect of global lexical activity for nonwords around 500 ms post-stimulus. The data are interpreted as reflecting two different decision processes: an identification process based on local lexical activity underlying the ‘yes’ response to words and a temporal deadline process underlying the ‘no’ response to nonwords based on global lexical activity.

Evaluating a split processing model of visual word recognition: Effects of orthographic neighborhood size

The split fovea theory proposes that visual word recognition of centrally presented words is mediated by the splitting of the foveal image, with letters to the left of fixation being projected to the right hemisphere (RH) and letters to the right of fixation being projected to the left hemisphere (LH). Two lexical decision experiments aimed to elucidate word recognition processes under the split fovea theory are described. The first experiment showed that when words were presented centrally, such that the initial letters were in the left visual field (LVF/RH), there were effects of orthographic neighborhood, i.e., there were faster responses to words with high rather than low orthographic neighborhoods for the initial letters (‘lead neighbors’). This effect was limited to lead-neighbors but not end-neighbors (orthographic neighbors sharing the same final letters). When the same words were fully presented in the LVF/RH or right visual field (RVF/LH, Experiment 2), there was no effect of orthographic neighborhood size. We argue that the lack of an effect in Experiment 2 was due to exposure to all of the letters of the words, the words being matched for overall orthographic neighborhood count and the sub-parts no longer having a unique effect. We concluded that the orthographic activation found in Experiment 1 occurred because the initial letters of centrally presented words were projected to the RH. The results support the split fovea theory, where the RH has primacy in representing lead neighbors of a written word.

An electrophysiological study of the effects of orthographic neighborhood size on printed word perception.

In two experiments participants read words and pseudowords that belonged to either large or small lexical neighborhoods while event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from their scalps. In Experiment 1, participants made speeded lexical decisions to all items, while in Experiment 2 they engaged in a go/no-go semantic categorization task in which the critical items did not require an overt behavioral response. In both experiments, words and pseudowords produced a consistent pattern of ERP effects: items with many lexical neighbors (large neighborhoods) generated larger N400s than similar items with relatively fewer lexical neighbors (small neighborhoods). Reaction time (RT, Experiment 1), on the other hand, showed a different pattern consistent with previous behavioral studies. While words tended to produce a facilitation in RT for larger neighborhoods, pseudowords produced an inhibition effect. The findings are discussed in terms of recent theories of word recognition and the functional significance of the N400.

Orthographic neighbors and visual word recognition.

Two lexical decision experiments, using words that were selected and closely matched on several criteria associated with lexical access provide evidence of facilitatory effects of orthographic neighborhood size and no significant evidence of inhibitory effects of orthographic neighborhood frequency on lexical access. The words used in Experiment 1 had few neighbors that were higher in frequency. In Experiment 2, the words employed had several neighbors that were higher in frequency. Both experiments showed that words possessing few neighbors evoked slower responses than those possessing many neighbors. Also, in both experiments, neighborhood size effects occurred even though words from large neighborhoods had more potentially interfering higher-frequency neighbors than words from small neighborhoods.

Word Length and Orthographic Neighborhood Size Effects in the Left and Right Cerebral Hemispheres

Previous studies have reported an interaction between visual field (VF) and word length such that word recognition is affected more by length in the left VF (LVF) than in the right VF (RVF). A reanalysis showed that the previously reported effects of length were confounded with orthographic neighborhood size (N). In three experiments we manipulated length and N in lateralized lexical decision tasks. Results showed that length and VF interacted even with N controlled (Experiment 1); that N affected responses to words in the LVF but not the RVF (Experiment 2); and that when length and N were combined, length only affected performance in the LVF for words with few neighbors.

Changes in spontaneous EEG- paroxysms and behaviour in female rats under the influence of interoceptive stimuli

Differences in how the right and left hemispheres (RH, LH) apprehend visual words were examined using event-related potentials (ERPs) in a repetition paradigm with visual half-field (VF) presentation. In both hemispheres (RH/LVF, LH/RVF), initial presentation of items elicited similar and typical effects of orthographic neighborhood size, with larger N400s for orthographically regular items (words and pseudowords) than for irregular items (acronyms and meaningless illegal strings). However, hemispheric differences emerged on repetition effects. When items were repeated in the LH/RVF, orthographically regular items, relative to irregular items, elicited larger repetition effects on both the N250, a component reflecting processing at the level of visual form (orthography), and on the N400, which has been linked to semantic access. In contrast, in the RH/LVF, repetition effects were biased toward irregular items on the N250 and were similar in size across item types for the N400. The results suggest that processing in the LH is more strongly affected by wordform regularity than in the RH, either due to enhanced processing of familiar orthographic patterns or due to the fact that regular forms can be more readily mapped onto phonology.