Mental Lexicon Research Articles

Cognate status modulates the comprehension of isolated reduced forms

ABSTRACT There are competing theories about the representation of reduced variants of words in the mental lexicon. At the same time, speech reduction is known to cause problems for non-natives' speech comprehension. We investigate whether processing of full and reduced forms of cognates can help to better understand how reduced forms are represented in the mental lexicon. In an English auditory lexical decision task during which the brain response (EEG) was recorded, highly proficient Dutch learners of English listened to full and reduced forms of cognates and non-cognates. In the reduced forms, schwa was omitted. This schwa reduction occurred in either poststress or prestress position. While behavioural data (accuracy and reaction time) did not yield convincing information about the status of reduced forms, EEG data strongly suggest that form representations play an important role, in both prestress and poststress words. The results have clear implications for theories and models of spoken word recognition.

The relationships between Mental Lexicon and other sciences that analysis about it

ئەم توێژینەوەیە بە ناونیشانی "پەیوەندیی نێوان فەرهەنگی عەقڵی و ئەو زانستانەی شیکردنەوە لەبارەیەوە دەکەن" لە سنوری زانستی (زیندەزمانەوانیی – Bio-linguistics))دایە و تیایدا هەوڵدەدریت لە ڕوانگە جیاوازەکانی زانستە پەیوەندییدارەکان، بە زانستی فەرهەنگی عەقڵییەوە شیکردنەوە و لێکدانەوە بۆ فەرهەنگی عەقڵی و تایبەتمەندیییەکانی بکرێت. توێژینەوەکە لە دوان و شیکردنەوەکانیدا پەیڕەوەی تەنها لە ڕێبازی شیکاری پەسەنکەرانە ناکات، بەڵکو بە گوێرەی پێویستیی توێکاریییەکی ئەو ئەندامانەی مێشک و جەستەش دەکات کە بەرپرسی بەرهەمهێنان و بەکارهێننای ئاخاوتنن. توێژینەوەکە لە دو بەشدا جۆر و پێویستیی ئەم پەیوەندییانە ڕوندەکاتەوە، بەم شێوەیە: بەشی یەکەم تەرخانکراوە بۆ پەیوەندیی نێوان فەرهەنگی عەقڵی و زانستی زمانەوانیی، لە بەشی دوەمیشدا پەیوەندیی فەرهەنگی عەقڵی لەگەڵ هەریەک لە زانستەکانی توێکاریی دەماری و زانستی دکپێکردن و زمانەوانیی دەماری خراونەتە ڕو. لە کۆتاییدا ئەنجامە بەدەستهاتوەکان و لیستی سەرچاوەکان خراونەتەڕو.

Definitional Skills of Learners with and without Developmental Language Disorder

Definitions exhibit aspects of mental lexicon organization. Learners with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have limited vocabulary knowledge (in breadth and depth) and, thus, less mature definitional skills. Word characteristics affect the definitional skills. This study investigated the definitional skills of learners with and without DLD considering different word characteristics. Moreover, issues like deviant vs. delayed abilities and the link between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge are addressed. Thirty-six learners were divided into three groups (a DLD and two control groups [CG] of typically developing learners matched on either age or vocabulary). They were asked to define 16 words. Answers were scored for content and form. Findings revealed that the DLD group scored lower than both CGs in content, while no differences were found in form. Definitions of abstract and compound words were more demanding for all. Correlations between vocabulary and definitional skills were detected only in the age-matched CG. From the above, we deduce that DLD learners’ definitional skills are deviant. In addition, clinical practice should not look at effects of isolated variables, but rather investigate the interrelation of different parameters. Finally, the link between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge may require more time to emerge in DLD learners.

Representation of Different Types of Adjectival Polysemy in the Mental Lexicon.

We studied mental representations of literal, metonymically different, and metaphorical senses in Russian adjectives. Previous studies suggested that in polysemous words, metonymic senses, being more sense-related, were stored together with literal senses, whereas more distant metaphorical senses had separate representations. We hypothesized that metonymy may be heterogeneous with respect to its mental storage. “Whole-part” metonymy (“sad person” – “sad eyes”), which is cognitively closer to the literal sense and more regular, should be stored differently from temporal, causal or resultative metonymy (“sad person” – “sad time;” “sad person” – “sad news;” “lead.ADJ ball” – “lead.ADJ poisoning”), which is irregular and semantically distant from the literal sense. We conducted an online experiment with semantic clustering task in which the participants were asked to classify sentences with a literal, proximal metonymic, distal metonymic, or metaphorical sense of an adjective into virtual baskets so that sentences with the same perceived sense were put in the same basket. Our results showed that proximal metonymies were grouped together with the literal sense and with each other more often than with distal metonymies and metaphors. Distal metonymies, in turn, were grouped with literal senses more often than with metaphors. Overall, we concluded that literal senses and proximal metonymies were stored in single representations, distal metonymies formed hybrid representations with literal senses, and metaphors were stored separately from literal senses. Additionally, we discovered that perception of semantic differences is affected by the surrounding senses: distal metonymies were more discernible from literal senses when presented with proximal metonymies, and less so when presented with metaphors.

Synergetik der Dekodierung von Substantiv-Neubildungen in Satzstrukturen des Deutschen

Abstract The article deals with the study of complex noun neologisms in the aspect of transformation and decoding of the semantic volume of their dominant component in relation to the structure of sentences of the German-language press from the standpoint of linguosynergetics. We focus on the synergetic law of conservation of speech energy and minimization of efforts as a driving factor, which directs the human mental lexicon to decoding of the complex nouns-neologisms with the dominant of the corresponding nominations of semantic volume of polysemic and monosemic word models. In a synergetic sense, parallels are drawn between the dictionary as a representative of the linguistic generalization of the structured amount of knowledge of the learned extralinguistic reality and the mental lexicon, which is not an arbitrary accumulation of contributions, but constitutes a structured hierarchical system of such contributions. The indicators obtained on the basis of statistical methods are extrapolated to synergetic models in the format of correlation of decoded nominations with simple and complex sentences of the German-language press. Such linguosynergetic analysis opens up prospects for modeling and predicting the possible lexicalization of complex noun-neologisms in view of their synergetic cycle of order-chaos-order and replenishment of German linguistics with new knowledge about German-language noun vocabulary.

The role of learner creativity in L2 semantic fluency. An exploratory study

Research about individual learner variables in L2 learning has not yet addressed in depth creativity as potentially relevant in the field. This study seeks to examine whether creativity is related to the L2 lexical production of a group of 35 12th grade Spanish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. Four EFL semantic fluency tasks are used to obtain the vocabulary activated in the learner's mental lexicon as a response to four semantic categories: beach, box, countryside and fun. Creativity is measured via the PIC-J Test (Artola et al., 2008), based on Torrance (1990) and Guilford (1967), and validated for the assessment of this construct in Spanish secondary education students. While the findings reveal a significant positive relationship between all measures of creativity and EFL semantic fluency in the four categories, EFL proficiency level and semantic fluency only correlate in some categories. The most creative learners retrieved a wider variety of words and produced more uncommon responses, a result which is consistent with recent neural and cognitive research on creativity. These findings are suggestive of the need for considering creativity and its various dimensions in L2 teaching.

How are words with diacritical vowels represented in the mental lexicon? Evidence from Spanish and German

ABSTRACT Recent research has shown that the omission of diacritics in words does not affect the initial contact with the lexical entries, as measured by masked priming. In the present study, we directly examined whether diacritics’ omission slows down lexical access using a single-presentation semantic categorisation task (“is the word an animal name?”). We did so in a language in which diacritics reflect lexical stress but not vowel quality (Spanish; e.g. ratón [mouse] vs. raton; Experiment 1) and in a language in which diacritics reflect vowel quality but not lexical stress (German; e.g. Kröte vs. Krote; Experiment 2). In Spanish, word response times were similar for words with diacritics that were either present or omitted. In contrast, German words were responded more slowly when the words’ diacritics were omitted. Thus, the function of diacritics in each language determines how words with diacritics are represented in the mental lexicon.

The neural dynamics associated with lexicality effect in reading single Chinese words, pseudo-words and non-words.

In previous word reading studies, lexicality has been used as a variable to examine the impacts of word form and meaning information on themany stages of word recognition process. Yet the neural dynamics associated with lexicality effect of various information processing for Chinese visual word recognition has not been well elucidated. In this study, Chinese native speakers were instructed to read Chinese disyllabic compound words, morphological legal (pseudo-words) and illegal non-words with their brain potentials recorded. Event-related potentials (ERP) results showed that N200 was related to Chinese orthographic processing, where three lexical conditions elicited comparable patterns. A semantic discrimination was found for N400 between pseudo-words/non-words and real words, which is in favor of the lexical view of the N400 effect. Further, a later ERP component P600 exhibited the difference between the non-words and pseudo-words, reflecting a re-analysis of word meaning or grammatical operation on Chinese morphological legality. Therefore, we argue that Chinese morphological information might have an independent representation (the P600 effect) in mental lexicon.

Relative entropy effects on the processing of spoken Romanian verbs

Abstract A multitude of studies show the relevance of both inflectional paradigms (word form frequency distributions, i.e., inflectional entropy) and inflectional classes (whole class frequency distributions) for visual lexical processing. Their interplay has also been proven significant, measured as the difference between paradigm and class frequency distributions (relative entropy). Relative entropy effects have now been recorded in nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositional phrases. However, all of these studies used visual stimuli – either written words or picture-naming tasks. The goal of our study is to test whether the effects of relative entropy can also be captured in the auditory modality. Forty young native speakers of Romanian (60% female) living in Serbia as part of the Romanian ethnic minority participated in an auditory lexical decision task. Stimuli were 168 Romanian verbs from two inflectional classes. Verbs were presented in four forms: present and imperfect 1st person singular, present 3rd person plural, and imperfect 2nd person plural. The results show that relative entropy influences both response accuracy and response latency. We discuss alternative operationalizations of relative entropy and how they can help us test hypotheses about the structure of the mental lexicon.

Units of a person’s mental lexicon and the nature of connections between them

In the modern world, the interest of the scientific world on the interdisciplinary basis of speech perception on the part of psychology and Philology has increased significantly. It should be noted that, despite the increasing role of the English language in Kazakhstan at the present time, this problem is probably the least developed. The purpose of the article is to describe the results of scientific research on the process of entering a foreign word into the system of internal lexicon of a student at the level of professional training. Methodology used: experimental (identification of the threshold of the "educational" lexical minimum) and comparative (comparison of associative fields of English words of the profile for students of the direction, in general 1500 lexical units) were used. From the results the data obtained allow us to identify the specifics of the entry of a foreign language word into the system of the student's internal lexicon at the professional level. Keywords: psycholinguistics, mental lexicon, internal dictionary, foreign language, connections

Stimulating parietal regions of the multiple-demand cortex impairs novel vocabulary learning

Neuroimaging research demonstrated that the early stages of learning engage domain-general networks, non-specialist brain regions that process a wide variety of cognitive tasks. Those networks gradually disengage as learning progresses and learned information becomes processed in brain networks specialised for the specific function (e.g., language). In the current study, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the form of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to test whether stimulation of the bilateral parietal region of the domain-general network impairs learning new vocabulary, indicating its causal engagement in this process. Twenty participants, with no prior knowledge of Polish, learned Polish words for well-known objects across three training stages. The first training stage started with cTBS applied to either the experimental domain-general bilateral parietal site or the control bilateral precentral site. Immediately after cTBS, the vocabulary training commenced. A different set of words was learned for each site. Immediately after the training stage, participants performed a novel vocabulary test, designed to measure their knowledge of the new words and the effect of stimulation on learning. To measure stimulation effect when the words were more established in the mental lexicon, participants received additional training on the same words but without cTBS (second training stage) and then the full procedures from the first training stage were repeated (third training stage). Results demonstrated that stimulation impaired novel word learning when applied to the bilateral parietal site at the first stage of learning only. This effect was not present when newly learned words were used more proficiently in the third training stage, or at any learning stage during control site stimulation. Our results show that the bilateral parietal region of the domain-general network causally contributes to the successful learning of novel words.

Exploring How Phonotactic Knowledge Can Be Represented in Cognitive Networks

In Linguistics and Psycholinguistics, phonotactics refers to the constraints on individual sounds in a given language that restrict how those sounds can be ordered to form words in that language. Previous empirical work in Psycholinguistics demonstrated that phonotactic knowledge influenced how quickly and accurately listeners retrieved words from that part of memory known as the mental lexicon. In the present study, we used three computer simulations to explore how three different cognitive network architectures could account for the previously observed effects of phonotactics on processing. The results of Simulation 1 showed that some—but not all—effects of phonotactics could be accounted for in a network where nodes represent words and edges connect words that are phonologically related to each other. In Simulation 2, a different network architecture was used to again account for some—but not all—effects of phonotactics and phonological neighborhood density. A bipartite network was used in Simulation 3 to account for many of the previously observed effects of phonotactic knowledge on spoken word recognition. The value of using computer simulations to explore different network architectures is discussed.

Функціональні особливості електронних словників

. Today concept of "dictionary" expands in the direction of denoting a systematized body of knowledge about a certain problem and acquires well-defined connotations to cognitological structures types of knowledge models. In particular, there is an approach based on the description of the dictionary as an abstract linguistic and information object that has distinguishing features in the form of systemic and structural characteristics. The purpose of the article is to analyze the functional features of electronic dictionaries, to find out their advantages and disadvantages compared to paper ones. Different approaches to determining the differential features of electronic lexicographic resources are highlighted, positive and negative features are revealed. With the development of computer lexicography, compiling dictionaries has acquired new theoretical and practical vectors of research. There is an opinion that an electronic dictionary is an analogue of a paper one in digital format. However, many researchers see the difference between electronic and paper dictionaries not only in the storage media. It has been found that in modern lexicography the understanding of electronic dictionary has evolved from a digital copy of a paper edition to a complex system with a powerful arsenal of functions, a multilevel thesaurus-type depository that in the kind of storing information is close to the human mental lexicon. It is determined that the main advantages of electronic dictionaries are the following: a large amount of lexicographic data, nonlinear structure, integrated description of units, the presence of multimedia objects, interactivity, the ability to manipulate content elements, flexibility, dynamism, openness, fast navigation and advanced full-text search capabilities for various criteria . At the same time, researchers point to some negative features of electronic dictionaries compared to paper ones. In particular, information from them cannot be read without a digital device, required software or network access. Often the increase in the amount of information in the electronic dictionary is not in favor of its quality, the data is posted without proper editing, use unreliable anonymous sources, machine translation errors occur. However, electronic dictionaries are a reality of today, they are popular with the general public due to their accessibility, ease of use and speed of translation, and their research in theoretical and practical aspects is a promising direction in modern lexicography.

Advances in Morphological Theory: Construction Morphology and Relational Morphology

In recent years, construction-based approaches to morphology have gained ground in the research community. This framework is characterized by the assumption that the mental lexicon is extensive and richly structured, containing not only a large number of stored words but also a wide variety of generalizations in the form of schemas. This review explores two construction-based theories, Construction Morphology and Relational Morphology. After outlining the basic theoretical architecture, the article presents an array of recent applications of a construction-based approach to morphological phenomena in various languages. In addition, it offers reflections on challenges and opportunities for further research. The review highlights those aspects of the theory that have proved particularly helpful in accommodating both the regularities and the quirks that are typical of the grammar of words.

Phonological precision for word recognition in skilled readers.

According to the lexical quality hypothesis, differences in the orthographic, semantic, and phonological representations of words will affect individual reading performance. While several studies have focused on orthographic precision and semantic coherence, few have considered phonological precision. The present study used a suite of individual difference measures to assess which components of lexical quality contributed to competition resolution in a masked priming experiment. The experiment measured form priming for word and pseudoword targets with dense and sparse neighbourhoods in 84 university students. Individual difference measures of language and cognitive skills were also collected and a principal component analysis was used to group these data into components. The data showed that phonological precision and NHD interacted with form priming. In participants with high phonological precision, the direction of priming for word targets with sparse neighbourhoods was facilitatory, while the direction for those with dense neighbourhoods was inhibitory. In contrast, people with low phonological precision showed the opposite pattern, but the interaction was non-significant. These results suggest that the component of phonological precision is linked to lexical competition for word recognition and that access to the mental lexicon during reading is affected by differing levels of phonological processing.

The lexical status of verbs among typical and dyslexic native Arabic readers: a developmental model.

The goal of this study was to investigate the development of mental lexicon organization among typical and dyslexic native Arabic readers. The participants included 271 students, divided into dyslexic readers, age-matched typical readers, and typical readers 2years younger. The lexical status of root and pattern morphemes was examined using two priming paradigms: masked priming and the cross-modal immediate repetition task. We conducted two visual lexical decision tasks (Experiment 1 for verb pattern, Experiment 3 for verb roots), and two auditory decision tasks (Experiment 2 for verb pattern, Experiment 4 for verb roots). In the visual tasks, the participants were asked to decide whether a visual stimulus was a real word or not by pressing the laptop keyboard's "yes" or "no" button. The auditory experiments were conducted similarly to the visual experiments, except that the stimuli were auditory, to clarify the locus of the morphological deficit observed in the visual test of the dyslexic students, should there be such failures. Analysis of Experiment 1 showed that verb patterns are not lexical entities with a role in organizing the mental lexicon among typical and dyslexic readers of different ages. However, Experiment 3 indicated that roots do indeed constitute lexical entities with a role in organizing the mental lexicon among normal and dyslexic readers of different ages. In Experiment 2, the auditory-morpho priming effect in the word pattern test was stronger among dyslexic and young readers than among more skilled readers, and contributed to speeding up lexical decisions more than its quality, among all research groups. In Experiment 4, the auditory-morpho priming effect in the root test was stronger than the visual effect among all participants, and contributed to hastening lexical decisions and improving the quality of the answers (success percentage). The results showed that roots contribute to the reading process. However, their contribution is different among dyslexic readers. Its construction is slower and different from that of typical readers, whereas word patterns have no lexical representation among the three reader groups that are likely to facilitate lexical decisions. The results are discussed with reference to the latest research literature on morpheme type (root or pattern).

Networks in the mental lexicon – contributions from Hungarian

Abstract Connections between the units of the mental lexicon store information as complex networks, where nodes represent words. With the emergence of network science characteristics of this mental network can be quantified. Present paper investigates the network structure of the mental lexicon of a non-Indo-European language, Hungarian, using a word association database which collected word association data online. The data is examined with statistical measures of networks: path length and degree centrality are calculated. Comparing the network characteristics of the database to the English South Florida Word Association Database we found that both networks display similar characteristics. We show that the central elements of the two databases are the same words (5 out of 7) and that the most central element in the Hungarian database is money, regardless the used centrality measure. The Hungarian database possesses a single, highly connected core, which defines the network properties of the whole database. This connected core is responsible for the short paths inside the lexicon.

Paradigmatic Relations Interact During the Production of Complex Words: Evidence From Variable Plurals in Dutch.

A growing body of work in psycholinguistics suggests that morphological relations between word forms affect the processing of complex words. Previous studies have usually focused on a particular type of paradigmatic relation, for example the relation between paradigm members, or the relation between alternative forms filling a particular paradigm cell. However, potential interactions between different types of paradigmatic relations have remained relatively unexplored. This paper presents two corpus studies of variable plurals in Dutch to test hypotheses about potentially interacting paradigmatic effects. The first study shows that generalization across noun paradigms predicts the distribution of plural variants, and that this effect is diminished for paradigms in which the plural variants are more likely to have a strong representation in the mental lexicon. The second study demonstrates that the pronunciation of a target plural variant is affected by coactivation of the alternative variant, resulting in shorter segmental durations. This effect is dependent on the representational strength of the alternative plural variant. In sum, by exploring interactions between different types of paradigmatic relations, this paper provides evidence that storage of morphologically complex words may affect the role of generalization and coactivation during production.

Methods and Technologies of Internal Speech Recognition by Non-Invasive Neurointerfaces

The brain coordinates the reproduction and understanding of internal speech. The processes of thinking are given in the form of internal speech. The perception of internal speech involves the primary and secondary crust centers of analyzers, which record the corresponding waves, signals and rhythms and qualify them as language. This is achieved in two ways: either use functional neuroimaging and other additional research methods that allow localizing the structures currently functioning, or select patients with damage to certain areas and conduct a detailed neurocognitive study in comparison with healthy people from the control group, determining which functions in this lesion fall out. The principal issue of internal speech research is languages. A more complex question is the study of the connection of thinking, memory with internal speech. Now, especially when neurologists take into account the plasticity of the brain, functional relationships, general principles, pathways of excitation are of greater interest. Technologists of non-invasive neurointerfaces use methods and technologies to localize structures that control the understanding and reproduction of internal speech, the communication between them, the stages of speech signal processing and the role of each structure at these stages. The introduction to the study highlights approaches and methods for identifying various functional speech aspects. The mental lexicon section discloses the semantic component and the syntactic component, as well as the perceived and reproducible forms of words of internal speech. The section holographic human consciousness describes aspects of storing life information. The hologram of consciousness is the main form of storage of information about human life. In the section, holographic fixation of internal speech presents functional magnetic resonance tomography focused on BOLD effect detection, which is today the optimal tool for mapping neuronal activity, more precisely, the functional state of neural networks - the basis for visualizing our holographic images in real time. Using nanoresonators with Fourier transducers, the brain activity of a human internal speech holographic image can fix mental noninvasive neurointerface in language form by mental lexicon.

한국어 유의어-반의어에 의한 체계 학습 연구 - 중국인 학습자의 행동반응을 바탕으로 -

Synonyms and antonyms constitute a close lexical network based on semantic relations in the mental lexicon. In this paper, the lexical decision task was performed by native Korean speakers and Chinese-speaking Korean learners on synonyms, antonyms, and unrelated words. (1) Native speakers were faster and more accurate than learners, and advanced learners processed synonyms more accurately than intermediate learners. (2) All groups processed synonyms and antonyms more accurately than unrelated words, but learners showed a prime effect that differed from non-words in antonyms. (3) The frequency effect has shown only in intermediate learners. These results are explained by a connectionist model that strengthens the connections between synonyms and antonyms based on semantic relations, and it is suggested that learning system knowledge of vocabularies such as synonyms and antonyms is effective. Since learners could receive more help from synonyms than antonyms in word processing using lexical networks, it is necessary to use synonyms to present words in vocabulary teaching and should be suggested new methods or strategies to use antonyms to facilitate learning. (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies)