Priming In Lexical Decision Task Research Articles

한국어 선어말어미의 심리어휘부 표상

A 'priming lexical decision task' and a 'self-paced reading task' were conducted to investigate the representation in the mental lexicon of Korean prefinal endings. We observed the extent to which prefinal endings are likely to have their own representation in the lexicon according to three factors: 'type of prefinal ending,' 'frequency of the stem,' and 'frequency of conjunction between prefinal endings and final endings,' and found that prefinal endings with high-frequency stems were significantly more likely to have their own representation than those with low-frequency stems. The type of prefinal ending and the frequency of conjunction between prefinal endings and final endings had no significant effect on the likelihood of being represented independently, and the entire conjugation was more likely to be represented. The experimental results suggest that Korean speakers' mental lexicon has a dual structure of a surface lexicon and a deep lexicon, in which all lexical conjugations are stored in the surface lexicon, and some conjugations containing high-frequency stems are separated into stems and endings and stored in the deep lexicon, where they function as objects of reference.

An examination of models of reading multi-morphemic and pseudo multi-morphemic words using sandwich priming.

Rastle et al. (2004) reported that true (e.g., walker) and pseudo (e.g., corner) multi-morphemic words prime their stem words more than form controls do (e.g., brothel priming BROTH) in a masked priming lexical decision task. This data pattern has led a number of models to propose that both of the former word types are "decomposed" into their stem (e.g., walk, corn) and affix (e.g., -er) early in the reading process. The present experiments were designed to examine the models proposed to explain Rastle et al.'s effect, including models not assuming a decomposition process, using a more sensitive priming technique, sandwich priming (Lupker & Davis, 2009). Experiment 1, using the conventional masked priming procedure, replicated Rastle et al.'s results. Experiments 2 and 3, involving sandwich priming procedures, showed a clear dissociation between priming effects for true versus pseudo multi-morphemic words, results that are not easily explained by any of the current models. Nonetheless, the overall data pattern does appear to be most consistent with there being a decomposition process when reading real and pseudo multi-morphemic words, a process that involves activating (and inhibiting) lexical-level representations including a representation for the affix (e.g., -er), with the ultimate lexical decision being based on the process of resolving the pattern created by the activated representational units. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

METAPHORICAL INSIGHTS: PHRASAL VERB KNOWLEDGE GAINS IN THE LIGHT OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR THEORY

The primary objective of this research is twofold: first, to elucidate the explicit teaching of phrasal verb constructions within the framework of conceptual metaphor theory, with a specific focus on the metaphorical aspects of particle usage, and second, to examine the correlation between such explicit instruction in phrasal verbs and the gains in implicit knowledge of these verb forms. This study employed a within-group pretest/posttest design as part of an experimental investigation involving 60 Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners who were students at the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) at a state university in Turkey. The research was analyzed across three dimensions: the achievement and retention of both receptive and productive knowledge of phrasal verbs, subconscious recognition and processing of lexical items, and the processing of phrasal verb meanings in a semantic context. To assess the first dimension, a multiple-choice test to gauge the students' receptive understanding of phrasal verbs and a c-test to measure their controlled productive knowledge of these verb forms were administered at three points: the initial pretest, an immediate posttest, and a delayed posttest. A masked repetition priming lexical decision task was utilized to investigate the subconscious recognition and processing of lexical items. Additionally, a self-paced task was employed to scrutinize the participants' semantic processing of phrasal verb meanings. The study's findings revealed that the explicit presentation of phrasal verb knowledge within the conceptual metaphor framework significantly impacts not only the acquisition and retention of receptive and productive knowledge but also the subconscious recognition and processing of lexical items, as well as the semantic priming of phrasal verb meanings, which substantiates the influential role of conceptual metaphors in the lexical aspects of language learning.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0010/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Shared and distinct neural correlates of first and second language morphological processing in bilingual brain

While morphology constitutes a crucial component of the human language system, the neural bases of morphological processing in the human brain remains to be elucidated. The current study aims at exploring the extent to which the second language (L2) morphological processing would resemble or differ from that of their first language (L1) in adult Chinese-English bilinguals. Bilingual participants were asked to complete a morphological priming lexical decision task drawing on derivational morphology, which is present for both Chinese and English, when their electrophysiological and optical responses were recorded concurrently. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) revealed a neural dissociation between morphological and semantic priming effects in the left fronto-temporal network, while L1 Chinese engaged enhanced activation in the left prefrontal cortex for morphological parsing relative to L2 English. In the early stage of lexical processing, cross-language morphological processing manifested a difference in degree, not in kind, as revealed by the early left anterior negativity (ELAN) effect. In addition, L1 and L2 shared both early and late structural parsing processes (P250 and 300 ~ 500 ms negativity, respectively). Therefore, the current results support a unified competition model for bilingual development, where bilinguals would primarily employ L1 neural resources for L2 morphological representation and processing.

Time course of Chinese compound word recognition as revealed by ERP data

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have yielded conflicting results regarding the onset of semantic processing in compound word recognition. This study examined the role of semantics in morphological processing using event-related potentials (ERP) recorded for Chinese compound targets primed by W+M+, W−M+, W−M− (W = whole-word semantics, M = morpheme meaning, + = congruent, and − = incongruent), semantically related and unrelated primes. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1 of a masked priming lexical-decision task (SOA = 50 ms), EEG results demonstrated that the brain was sensitive to semantic information as early as between 100 and 250 ms. In Experiment 2 of an unmasked priming lexical-decision task (SOA = 200 ms), data confirmed early semantic access. The two EEG experiments also showed that the semantics of constituent morphemes may have little bearing on compound recognition. Overall, these results seem to converge with a form-and-meaning account of compound recognition.

Masked orthographic neighbor priming effects in Chinese two-character words

AbstractIn masked priming lexical decision tasks in alphabetic or syllabic script languages, latencies are longer when a word target is primed by a higher frequency neighbor (e.g., blue–BLUR) than when primed by an unrelated word of equivalent frequency (e.g., care–BLUR) – an “inhibitory neighbor priming effect.” In contrast, Zhou et al. (1999) demonstrated facilitatory orthographic neighbor priming for two-character Chinese words (e.g., 华丽–华贵). However, Zhou et al. did not control for relative prime-target frequency, which has been shown to be important in experiments when examining languages with other scripts. In the present Experiment 1 word neighbor primes (e.g., 容易-容貌) produced an inhibitory neighbor priming effect when the prime was higher frequency than the target, paralleling effects in other script languages. In further experiments, paralleling those in other script languages, two-character targets primed by nonword neighbors (容待-容貌) or single constituent characters matching the target in either position (容-容貌) showed significant facilitation. These results suggest that lexical activation/competition processes for two-character Chinese words are reasonably similar to those for words in alphabetic/syllabic script languages.

Investigating the Role of Response Codes in Masked Priming Lexical Decision Tasks: The Case of Repeated Presentations

The masked priming technique is considered a gold standard among experimental psychologists who specialize in the field of visual word recognition. Typically, this method entails a comparison between two or more critical conditions (e.g., the target word MOUSE being preceded by either the identity prime mouse or the unrelated prime fence). It is noteworthy that, unlike other masked priming tasks, prior experiments examining the properties of unrelated primes (e.g., their frequency as words [high or low] or their legality as nonwords [orthographically legal or illegal]) do not have an impact on the processing of the target item. However, two lexical decision studies reported faster responses to target words when the unrelated prime is a word rather than a nonword (i.e., a response congruency effect). One possible explanation for this discrepancy is a difference in methodology, as these two studies are the only ones to have used repeated presentation of stimuli, which could lead to the creation of an episodic memory trace that amplifies response congruency effects. To examine this hypothesis, we used a set of materials that did not show any congruency effect in a previous experiment with unique presentations, except that here we included repeated presentations. Results showed a response congruency effect, with participants responding faster to word targets when they were preceded by an unrelated word prime as opposed to an unrelated nonword prime. These findings suggest that the activation of response codes in masked priming is contingent upon the nature of cognitive resources required for processing the target stimuli.

Perceptual Contiguity Does Not Modulate Matched-Case Identity-Priming Effects in Lexical Decision.

In recent studies with the masked priming lexical decision task, matched-case identity-priming effects occur for nonwords but not for words (e.g., nonwords: ERTAR-ERTAR faster than ertar-ERTAR; words: ALTAR-ALTAR produces similar response times as altar-ALTAR). This dissociation is thought to result from lexical feedback influencing orthographic representations in word processing. As nonwords do not receive this feedback, bottom-up processing of prime-target integration leads to matched-case effects. However, the underlying mechanism of this effect in nonwords remains unclear. In this study, we added a color congruency manipulation across the prime and target in the matched-case identity-priming design. We aimed to determine whether the case effects originate at the early stages of prime-target perceptual integration or due to bottom-up activation of case-specific letter detectors. Results replicated the previous dissociation between words and nonwords regarding the matched-case identity effect. Additionally, we did not find any modulation of these effects by prime-target color congruency. These findings suggest that the locus of the matched-case identity effect is at an orthographic level of representation that encodes case information.

The Role of Phonological Priming in Backward Priming Effects of Chinese Four-Character Words

The backward priming effect is found in the masked lexical decision tasks deploying Chinese four-character words as targets and the backward-presented words as primes. To explore whether phonology plays a role in this backward priming effect, we conducted two experiments using the masked priming lexical decision tasks. Thirty-two and sixty-three native Chinese speakers participated in the two experiments. Experiment 1 was designed to investigate the phonological priming in backward conditions and to ensure the exclusion of phonology in Experiment 1, the primes were presented forward in Experiment 2. The results showed that no significant phonological priming effect was found whether the primes were backward-presented or forward-presented. Therefore, it can be concluded that phonological priming did not contribute to the backward priming effect in lexical decision tasks.

Character-position encoding in visual word recognition of inverted characters. An investigation using a masked priming lexical decision task with four-character kanji words.

Character-position encoding in visual word recognition of inverted characters. An investigation using a masked priming lexical decision task with four-character kanji words.

Examining Language Interactivity Through Classifier Masked Primes in Chinese-English Bilinguals

One universal characteristic of human languages is grammatical agreement dependencies. In Mandarin Chinese, classifiers, or measure words, are an obligatory grammatical class used to characterize a quantified noun. The classifier is inserted in between the numeral and the noun (i.e., 一张票 yī zhāng piào, one ticket). English lacks classifiers, so their use in Chinese may lead to cross-language influence for bilinguals and second language learners. Previous research has investigated language interactivity in bilinguals, commonly through the masked priming lexical decision task (LDT), a psycholinguistic task where participants decide if a sequence of characters form a real word or not. This study investigated Chinese-English bilinguals at the University of Florida (n= 24). The experimental group consisted of Chinese-dominant bilinguals who have been in an immersive English environment for at least one semester. The control group included monolingual or dominant English bilingual speakers with another language other than Chinese. Participants completed two LDTs in a within–subjects design. Part 1 featured Chinese (L1) classifier masked primes in an overt English (L2) LDT. Part 2 featured L1 translated masked primes sharing a common classifier with target words in the overt L2 LDT. The results indicated no interaction effect between group and congruency conditions in either part (p = 0.334; p = 0.889). These findings reveal no effect of classifier primes in Chinese-English bilinguals, suggesting minimal, or the absence of cross-language influence in this context.

A reexamination of the impact of morphology on transposed character priming effects.

Using two-character Chinese word targets in a masked priming lexical-decision task, Gu and colleagues (2015) demonstrated a significant transposed character (TC) priming effect. More importantly, the priming effect was the same size for single-morpheme words and multiple-morpheme words, suggesting that TC priming effects are not influenced by morphemic structure. In Chinese, there are, however, two types of single-morpheme words, single-morpheme simple words (e.g., [similar to practice in English]) and single-morpheme complex words (e.g., [similar to carpet in English in that both components are words themselves and, hence, when presented in transposed order, may activate morphological information reflecting the individual components rather than the word itself]), a contrast that Gu et al. did not examine. In Experiment 1, we replicated Gu et al.'s finding of equal TC priming effects for their single- and multiple-morpheme words, although our priming effects were noticeably smaller than theirs. In Experiment 2, we split the single-morpheme condition in order to examine the TC priming effects for single-morpheme simple words, single-morpheme complex words and multiple-morpheme words. The results showed that the single-morpheme complex words produced the smallest priming effect, indicating that transposed morphemes can influence masked priming in Chinese; however, apparently only in an inhibitory fashion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Does online masked priming pass the test? The effects of prime exposure duration on masked identity priming

Masked priming is one of the most important paradigms in the study of visual word recognition, but it is usually thought to require a laboratory setup with a known monitor and keyboard. To test if this technique can be safely used in an online setting, we conducted two online masked priming lexical decision task experiments using PsychoPy/PsychoJS (Peirce et al., 2019). Importantly, we also tested the role of prime exposure duration (33.3 vs. 50 ms in Experiment 1 and 16.7 vs. 33.3 ms in Experiment 2), thus allowing us to examine both across conditions and within-conditions effects. We found that our online data are indeed very similar to the masked priming data previously reported in the masked priming literature. Additionally, we found a clear effect of prime duration, with the priming effect (measured in terms of response time and accuracy) being stronger at 50 ms than 33.3 ms and no priming effect at 16.7 ms prime duration. From these results, we can conclude that modern online browser-based experimental psychophysics packages (e.g., PsychoPy) can present stimuli and collect responses on standard end user devices with enough precision. These findings provide us with confidence that masked priming can be used online, thus allowing us not only to run less time-consuming experiments, but also to reach populations that are difficult to test in a laboratory.

Exploring the Processing of Japanese Compound Verbs: Evidence from Unmasked Priming Lexical Decision Task

In this study, we used an unmasked constituent priming paradigm to test the effect of whole-word frequency and semantic transparency in the processing of Japanese compound verbs. Native speakers of Japanese saw a prime (related prime such as first constituent of the compound verb or an unrelated prime) overtly and then made lexical decision to a target compound verb. Results showed that target words with high whole-word frequency were significantly recognized faster than target words with low whole-word frequency, irrespective of prime type and semantic transparency. These results contrasted with English, in which robust constituent priming effects have been consistently reported. We contend that the processing of compound words is modulated by language-specific properties such as morphological properties, syntactic properties and orthographic properties.

Word learning and lexicalization in a second language: Evidence from the Prime lexicality effect in masked form priming

In a masked form priming lexical decision task, orthographically related word primes cause null or inhibitory priming relative to unrelated controls because of lexical competition between primes and targets, whereas orthographically related nonword primes lead to facilitation because nonwords are not lexically represented and hence do not evoke lexical competition. This prime lexicality effect (PLE) has been used as an index of new word lexicalization in the developing lexicon by using to-be-learned words and their orthographic neighbors as primes and targets, respectively. Experiment 1 confirmed an inhibitory effect of −46 ms among native English speakers and faciliatory effects of 52 ms by Japanese English learners without critical word training. In Experiment 2, Japanese English learners studied novel English words while performing a meaning-based, form-based, or no task during learning. Recall measures indicated a dissociation between these two types of processing, with a form-based task leading to greater recall of L2 words and a meaning-based task leading to greater recall of L1 words. Results indicated that all three learning conditions produced neither facilitation nor inhibition (null priming effect). Taken together, the results of the two experiments demonstrate that the PLE can occur in a second language (L2) and that the training procedure can yield at least partial lexicalization of new L2 words.

Disentangling the Role of Deviant Letter Position on Cognate Word Processing.

The way of coding letter position has been extensively assessed during the recognition of native words, leading to the development of a new generation of models that assume more flexible letter position coding schemes compared to classical computational models such as the interactive activation (IA) model. However, determining whether similar letter position encoding mechanisms occur during the bilingual word recognition has been largely less explored despite its implications for the leading model of bilingual word recognition (multilink) as it assumes the input-coding scheme of the IA model. In this study, we aimed to examine this issue through the manipulation of the position of the deviant letter of cognate words (external and internal letters). Two experiments were conducted with Catalan–Spanish bilinguals (a masked priming lexical decision task and a two-alternative forced-choice task) and their respective monolingual controls. The results revealed a differential processing for the first letter in comparison to the other letters as well as modulations as a function of language cue, suggesting amendments to the input-coding scheme of the multilink model.

Morpho-semantic analysis of ambiguous morphemes in Chinese compound word recognition: An fMRI study

The present fMRI study examined the neural basis of processing context-supported or -unsupported interpretations of ambiguous morphemes during Chinese compound word reading in a masked priming lexical decision task. Targets were Chinese bimorphemic words that contained ambiguous morphemes. Prime words contained the same ambiguous morphemes with either the same meanings (context-supported interpretation) or different ones (context-unsupported interpretation). Lexical-level semantic sharing and unrelated control conditions were also included. Compared to the unrelated control condition, the context-supported morphemic meaning was associated with increased activity in the left SFG and bilateral MTG, and this priming effect could be dissociated from that of the lexical-level semantic-related condition. In broader brain regions, including the left SFG, bilateral MTG, left STG, right IOG, and left precuneus, the context-unsupported meaning condition showed decreased activity compared with the unrelated control condition. These findings indicate that both the context-supported and -unsupported meanings evoke significant priming effects, however, they differ from each other with different brain basis, providing new insight into the neural substrates of ambiguous morpheme processing.

Comparing incidental vocabulary learning from reading-only and reading-while-listening

This study compares incidental vocabulary learning in reading-while-listening and reading-only conditions. Using both offline and online outcome measures, I assessed explicit form and meaning knowledge and the lexicalization of new words. I also explored how L2 listening and reading proficiency moderated learning gains in the two treatment conditions. L2 learners first read or read-while-listened to four short stories in English for meaning, with embedded target vocabulary items. They then completed surprise vocabulary posttests in the order of a form priming lexical decision task, a form recognition test, a form-meaning connection test and a semantic priming lexical decision task. Results showed that while the reading-while-listening group outperformed the reading-only group in recognizing the form and meaning of the target vocabulary, neither group fully lexicalized the new words, which was crucial for fluent lexical retrieval. L2 listening and reading proficiency affected learning from reading-while-listening and reading-only differentially: the reading-while-listening group was negatively affected by L2 reading proficiency when controlling for listening proficiency while performance of the reading-only group was not predicted by L2 proficiency. Implications for the use of bimodal input in incidental vocabulary learning are discussed.

Masked form priming as a function of letter position: An evaluation of current orthographic coding models.

A word's exterior letters, particularly its initial letter, appear to have a special status when reading. Therefore, most orthographic coding models incorporate assumptions giving initial letters and, in some cases, final letters, enhanced importance during the orthographic coding process. In the present article, 3 masked priming experiments were carried out, using the conventional lexical-decision task, the sandwich priming lexical-decision task and the masked priming same-different task, in an attempt to examine a number of those models with a specific focus on the implications of the models' assumptions concerning the different letter positions. The related primes and targets were 6-letter strings that differed in 2 letter positions, initial (e.g., jnckey-HOCKEY), middle (e.g., hojney-HOCKEY), or final (hockjn-HOCKEY), with the middle-letters different primes being the primes that maintained both end letters. To the extent possible, the predictions of the models were derived by using easyNet, the simulation program recently developed by Adelman, Gubian, and Davis (2017). In all experiments, the final-letters different primes were the most effective primes with there being no clear distinction between the other 2 prime types, a pattern that none of the models predicted. The lack of an advantage for the middle-letters different primes suggests that the orthographic code driving masked priming is not one that places a special emphasis on the identities of the exterior letters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Is zjudge a better prime for JUDGE than zudge is?: A new evaluation of current orthographic coding models.

Three masked priming paradigms, the conventional masked priming lexical-decision task (Forster & Davis, 1984), the sandwich priming task (Lupker & Davis, 2009), and the masked priming same-different task (Norris & Kinoshita, 2008), were used to investigate priming for a given target (e.g., JUDGE) from primes created by either adding a letter to the beginning of the target (e.g., zjudge) or replacing the target's initial letter (e.g., zudge). Virtually all models of orthographic coding that allow calculation of orthographic similarity measures predict that zjudge should be the better prime because zjudge contains all the letters in JUDGE in their correct order whereas zudge does not. Nonetheless, Adelman et al.'s (2014) megastudy data indicated no difference in the effectiveness of these two prime types. The present experiments provide additional support for the conclusion of no difference between these two prime types with the only observed difference being a small zudge prime advantage in Experiment 1b (sandwich priming). These results suggest that models of orthographic coding/word recognition may be well served by allowing inconsistent information (e.g., the "z" in both zjudge and zudge indicates that the presented prime is not JUDGE) to be given considerable weight during the orthographic coding/word recognition process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).