Processing Of Chinese Characters Research Articles

Functional interactions underlying visuospatial orthographic processes in Chinese reading.

As a logographic writing system, Chinese reading involves the processing of visuospatial orthographic (ORT) properties. However, this aspect has received relatively less attention in neuroimaging research, which has tended to emphasize phonological (PHO) and semantic (SEM) aspects in processing Chinese characters. Here, we compared the functional correlates supporting all these three processes in a functional MRI single-character reading study, in which 35 native Chinese adults were asked to make ORT, PHO, and SEM judgments in separate task-specific activation blocks. Our findings revealed increased involvement of the right hemisphere in processing Chinese visuospatial orthography, particularly evident in the right ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOTC). Additionally, time course analysis revealed that the left superior parietal gyrus (SPG) was initially involved in SEM processing but contributed to the visuospatial processing of words in a later time window. Finally, ORT processing demonstrated stronger recruitment of left vOTC-SPG-middle frontal gyrus (MFG) functional connectivity compared to SEM processing. This functional coupling correlated with reduced regional engagement of the left vOTC and MFG, highlighting that visuospatial ORT processes in reading Chinese rely on functional interactions among key regions rather than local regional processes. In conclusion, these findings underscore visuospatial ORT processes as a distinctive feature of reading logographic characters.

A study of ERPs acquired during handwritten and printed Chinese character processing in a lexical decision task

The aim of this study was to investigate the time course differences in brain processing between handwritten and printed Chinese characters. Behavioural and event-related potential (ERP) data were collected from twenty participants as they performed a lexical decision task in which Chinese handwritten and printed characters served as stimuli. The findings indicated that N1 reflects orthographic regularity during the early processing stage; N400 and the late positive component (LPC) data revealed that reading handwritten words evoke greater ERP amplitudes during the late processing stage. Although handwritten characters evoke greater ERP amplitudes, this did not result in more efficient behavioural outcomes. Therefore, it appears that the greater ERP amplitudes observed in the handwriting task corresponded to deeper meaning comprehension, which is also more challenging for semantic integration.

Spatial Stroop Effects in the Processing of Ideogrammatic Chinese Characters Containing A Spatial-related Radical

Spatial Stroop Effects in the Processing of Ideogrammatic Chinese Characters Containing A Spatial-related Radical

Parallel phonological processing of Chinese characters revealed by flankers tasks.

An important and extensively researched question in the field of reading is whether readers can process multiple words in parallel. An unresolved issue regarding this question is whether the phonological information from foveal and parafoveal words can be processed in parallel, i.e., parallel phonological processing. The present study aims to investigate whether there is parallel phonological processing of Chinese characters. The original and the revised flankers tasks were applied. In both tasks, a foveal target character was presented in isolation in the no-flanker condition, flanked on both sides by a parafoveal homophone in the homophone-flanker condition, and by a non-homophonic character in the unrelated-flanker condition. Participants were instructed to fixate on the target characters and press two keys to indicate whether they knew the target characters (lexical vs. non-lexical). In the original flankers task, the stimuli were presented for 150 ms without a post-mask. In the revised flankers task, we set the stimulus exposure time (duration of the stimuli plus the blank interval between the stimuli and the post-mask) to each participant's lexical decision threshold to prevent participants from processing the target and flanker characters serially. In both tasks, reaction times to the lexical targets were significantly shorter in the homophone-flanker condition than in the unrelated-flanker condition, suggesting parallel phonological processing of Chinese characters. In the revised flankers task, accuracy rates to the lexical targets were significantly lower in the unrelated-flanker condition compared to the homophone-flanker condition, further supporting parallel phonological processing of Chinese characters. Moreover, reaction times to the lexical targets were the shortest in the no-flanker condition in both tasks, reflecting the attention distribution over both the target and flanker characters. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the parallel processing mechanisms involved in reading.

Chinese holistic processing: Evidence from cognitive mental architecture using Systems Factorial Technology

Previous research has presented conflicting evidence regarding whether Chinese characters are processed holistically. In past work, we applied Systems Factorial Technology (SFT) and discovered that native Chinese speakers exhibited limited capacity when processing characters and words. To pinpoint the source of this limitation, our current research delved further into the mental architecture involved in processing Chinese characters and English words, taking into consideration information from each component. In our current study, participants were directed to make the same/different judgments on characters/words presented sequentially. Our results indicated that participants utilized a parallel self-terminating strategy when both or neither of the left/right components differed (Experiment 1). Faced with the decisional uncertainty that either the left/right component would also differ, most participants processed with a parallel exhaustive architecture, while a few exhibited the coactive architecture (Experiment 2). Taken together, our work provides evidence that in word/character perception, there is weak holistic processing (parallel self-terminating processing) when partial information is sufficient for the decision; robust holistic processing (coactive or parallel exhaustive processing) occurs under decisional uncertainty. Our findings underscore the significant role that the task and presentation context play in visual word processing.

Visual word processing efficiency for Chinese characters and English words

The Word Superiority Effect (WSE) refers to the phenomenon where a single letter is recognized more accurately when presented within a word, compared to when it is presented alone or in a random string. However, previous research has produced conflicting findings regarding whether this effect also occurs in the processing of Chinese characters. The current study employed the capacity coefficient, a measure derived from the Systems Factorial Technology framework, to investigate processing efficiency and test for the superiority effect in Chinese characters and English words. We hypothesized that WSE would result in more efficient processing of characters/words compared to their individual components, as reflected by super capacity processing. However, contrary to our predictions, results from both the “same” (Experiment 1) and “different” (Experiment 2) judgment tasks revealed that native Chinese speakers exhibited limited processing capacity (inefficiency) for both English words and Chinese characters. In addition, results supported an English WSE with participants integrating English words and pseudowords more efficiently than nonwords, and decomposing nonwords more efficiently than words and pseudowords. In contrast, no superiority effect was observed for Chinese characters. To conclude, the current work suggests that the superiority effect only applies to English processing efficiency with specific context rules and does not extend to Chinese characters.

Improvement of semantic processing ability of Chinese characters in school children: A comparative study based on 2009 and 2019 data.

To explore the characteristics of semantic cognitive development of school children by observing the development changes over 10 years, a retrospective event-related potential (ERP) study was conducted on the semantic processing characteristics of Chinese characters in children aged 7-11 years with the same study design in 2009 and 2019. For the EEGs recorded in 2009, the N400 amplitude of semantic processing in children aged 7-11 years showed an approximately inverted U-shaped development trend with a slow rise at the age of 7-9, a peak at the age of 10, then a rapid decline at the age of 11. However, for the EEGs recorded in 2019, the N400 amplitude showed a gradually decreasing development trend with a slow decline for the 7-11 years class. Our data suggested that the semantic processing of Chinese characters in children aged 7-11 years in 2019 was one age stage earlier than that in 2009. The children's brain cognition is in the process of development and change with high plasticity. 10 years of favorable social and educational environmental factors have significantly improved children's semantic processing ability of Chinese characters.

Sentiment annotations for 3827 simplified Chinese characters.

Sentiment analysis in Chinese natural language processing has been largely based on words annotated with sentiment categories or scores. Characters, however, are the basic orthographic, phonological, and in most cases, semantic units in the Chinese language. This study collected sentiment annotations for 3827 characters. The ratings demonstrated high levels of reliability, and were validated through a comparison with the ratings of some characters' word equivalents reported in a previous norming study. Relations with other lexico-semantic variables and character processing efficiency were investigated. Furthermore, analyses of the association between constituent character valence and word valence revealed semantic compositionality and sentiment fusion characteristic of larger Chinese linguistic units. These ratings for characters, expanding current Chinese sentiment lexicons, can be utilized for the purposes of more precise stimuli assessment in research on Chinese character processing and more efficient sentiment analysis equipped with annotations of single-character words.

A Review and Prospects of Chinese Character Research in the Last Thirty Years

At this stage, the study of Chinese characters is undergoing a transformation of modern applications and technology, and research in this field is both deeply rooted in the traditional Chinese study of script and flourishing with new vitality. This paper analyses the five major components of Chinese character research, namely, the study of archaic characters, the study of the phonology, morphology and meaning of Chinese characters, the study of the application of Chinese characters in the computer field, the study of the cognitive processing of Chinese characters, and the study of Chinese character teaching, and the three methods of Chinese character research, namely, exegetical examination, corpus database and empirical research methods. This paper summarizes the literature on Chinese character research, analyses the trends in Chinese character research, and summarizes the review and outlook of Chinese character research in the past thirty years.

Neural similarities and differences between native and second languages in the bilateral fusiform cortex in Chinese-English bilinguals

In the field of bilingualism, researchers have proposed an assimilation hypothesis that posits that bilinguals apply the neural network of their native language to process their second language. In Chinese-English bilinguals, the bilateral fusiform gyrus has been identified as the key brain region showing the assimilation process. Specifically, in contrast to left-lateralized activation in the fusiform gyrus in native English speakers, Chinese-English bilinguals recruit the bilateral fusiform cortex to process English words as they do in the processing of Chinese characters. Nevertheless, it is unclear which type of information processing is assimilated in the fusiform gyrus. Using representational similarity analysis (RSA) and psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis, this study examined the differences in information representation and functional connectivity between both languages in the fusiform subregions in Chinese-English bilinguals. Univariate analysis revealed that both Chinese and English naming elicited strong activations in the bilateral fusiform gyrus, which confirmed the assimilation process at the activation intensity level. RSA indicated that the neural pattern of English phonological information was assimilated by Chinese in the anterior and middle right fusiform gyrus, while those of orthographic and visual form information were not. Further PPI analysis demonstrated that the neural representation of English phonological information in the right anterior fusiform subregion was related to its interaction with the frontotemporal areas for high-level linguistic processing, while the neural representation of English orthographic information in the right middle fusiform subregion was linked to its interaction with the left inferior occipital cortex for visual processing. These results suggest that, despite the recruitment of similar neural resources in one's native and second languages, the assimilation of information representation is limited in the bilateral fusiform cortex. Our results shed light on the neural mechanisms of second language processing.

병렬적 역사 어휘 사전의 일관성 유지를 위한 쟁점 연구

This study has two purposes: first, it introduces the macro- and micro-features of the East Asian Wooden Tablet Dictionary(EAWD) with parallel structures in the lexical information arrangement of Korea, China, and Japan, and second, it shares important issues arising from the establishment of guidelines to maintain compilation consistency with three sub-builders. The EAWD is planned to be built in a web-based dictionary format to describe in parallel the entries of the vast Chinese character and Chinese character vocabulary contained in the three East Asian countries' wooden data. Regarding the maintenance of consistency in the form and content description of the headwords arranged in parallel, we discussed the unregistered Chinese character processing in the form section, and the corresponding vocabulary replacement and the writing form of the meaning explanation in the meaning/use section.

Functional connectivity during orthographic, phonological, and semantic processing of Chinese characters identifies distinct visuospatial and phonosemantic networks.

While neuroimaging studies have identified brain regions associated with single word reading, its three constituents, namely, orthography, phonology, and meaning, and the functional connectivity of their networks remain underexplored. This study examined the neurocognitive underpinnings of these neural activations and functional connectivity of the identified brain regions using a within‐subject design. Thirty‐one native Mandarin speakers performed orthographic, phonological, and semantic judgment tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results indicated that the three processes shared a core network consisting of a large region in the left prefrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, and medial superior frontal gyrus but not the superior temporal gyrus. Orthographic processing more strongly recruited the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left superior parietal lobule and bilateral fusiform gyri; semantic processing more strongly recruited the left inferior frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus, whereas phonological processing more strongly activated the dorsal part of the precentral gyrus. Functional connectivity analysis identified a posterior visuospatial network and a frontal phonosemantic network interfaced by the left middle frontal gyrus. We conclude that reading Chinese recruits cognitive resources that correspond to basic task demands with unique features best explained in connection with the individual reading subprocesses.

Electrophysiological measurements of holistic processing of Chinese characters.

Holistic processing (HP) is a marker of perceptual expertise in facial recognition. In the present study, we examined neural responses to the HP of Chinese characters, adopting the composite paradigm. The behavioral results showed that the discrimination of congruent trials was significantly higher than that of incongruent trials, and participants responded faster. Moreover, the congruent trials elicited significantly larger N170 amplitude than the incongruent trials. The HP effect of the N170 component was observed for upright characters, as the configural information of inverted characters and misaligned characters were destroyed. Right-lateralization of processing Chinese characters was observed in the N170 amplitudes and delta-theta band oscillations. The results suggested that Chinese character recognition employed a strategy of HP, and the finding that neural indicators provide a better signal of the strength of HP in Chinese characters than behavioral indicators was also crucial.

Visual motion processing in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia: An fMRI study.

Dorsal stream is an important pathway for visual information transmission. As a part of the dorsal pathway, the middle temporal visual motion areas (V5/MT+) are mainly responsible for visual motion processing and the ability of visual motion processing is closely related to reading. Compared with alphabetic scripts, the visual structure of Chinese characters is more complex and there are no clear grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules. So the ability of visual analysis plays an important role in Chinese character processing. This study first investigated the brain activation of Chinese dyslexic children and children of the same chronological age when they observed coherent motion stimuli. ROI analysis indicated that only the activation of left V5/MT+ was significantly weaker in dyslexics than that in the control group. The activity of the magnocellular-dorsal stream was closely related to orthographic awareness in the combined data (two groups) and the typical children. In dyslexia group, the stronger the activation of V5/MT+ was, the worse the phonological awareness, rapid naming performance and orthographic awareness were. In short, Chinese dyslexic children were deficient in the activation of the left V5/MT+ and the activity of the magnocellular-dorsal pathway was closely related to orthographic awareness in Chinese pupils.

Interference effects of radical markings and stroke order animations on Chinese character learning among L2 learners.

There is controversy around whether presenting sub-character units such as radicals and strokes are beneficial to L2 Chinese learning. The present study explored the effects of radical markings (i.e., marked radicals with different colors) and stroke order animations on learning Chinese characters. Forty Chinese L2 learners with native alphabetic languages were divided into high-and low-level groups. They were first required to learn Chinese characters under four conditions either: (a) presented radical markings with stroke animations; (b) presented no radical markings with stroke animations; (c) presented radical markings without stroke animations; or (d) presented neither radical markings nor stroke animations. After learning, the participants were given character recognition and character-meaning matching tests. Results showed that the presentation of radical markings increased the participants’ reaction times in the character recognition test and decreased their recognition accuracy. Moreover, presenting stroke order animations also decreased the participants’ accuracy in recognizing characters. Beyond that, presenting radical markings and stroke order animations had no significant influence on character-meaning matching tests. These results indicate that providing radical and stroke information might interfere with character learning instead of facilitating character learning. The results suggest that excessive visual information introduced in the learning process may increase L2 learners’ cognition load. Also, the findings contribute to theoretical arguments about the analytic and holistic processing of Chinese characters and the pedagogical implications for teaching Chinese as a second language.

Developmental trajectories of expert perception processing of Chinese characters in primary school children

Previous studies have demonstrated that inversion effect and left-side bias are stable expertise markers in Chinese character processing among adults. However, it is less clear how these markers develop early on (i.e., among primary school students). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the development of the two markers by comparing primary school-aged students of three age groups (Grade 1, Grade 3, and Grade 5) and adults in tests of inversion effect (Experiment 1) and left-sided bias effect (Experiment 2). The results replicated that both effects during Chinese character processing were present among adults. However, more importantly, the effects were different among primary school-aged students in different grades: the inversion effect was found as early as in Grade 1, but the left-side bias effect did not emerge in Grade 1 and as approximated that of adults until Grade 3. The study suggested a potential dissociation in developing different aspects of expertise during Chinese character processing in early childhood.

Brain mechanism of Chinese character processing in rapid stream stimulation

In visual masking, the visibility of a fleetingly presented visual target is disrupted by the presentation of an additional image, the mask, shortly before or after the target. Rapid stream stimulation (RSS) is a masking paradigm that is frequently used in character processing. Although neuroimaging studies have examined lexicality in terms of RSS, the mechanism underlying character masking has not been investigated. To resolve this issue, we investigated the neural basis of masking effects in lexicality using a two-way factorial design in a 3T-fMRI with masking (mask condition: masked versus unmasked) and target stimulus (character likeness: real-, pseudo-, non-characters) as factors. We found that brain activity in the left middle occipital gyrus (MOG) and lingual gyrus was strongest in the unmasked condition in RSS. Analysis of psychophysiological interactions revealed diverse patterns of functional connectivity in the two conditions, with stronger functional connectivity of the left MOG to the left fusiform gyrus and the right posterior cingulate cortex, suggesting the involvement of lexical processing of familiar characters. Together, these findings of activation and connectivity patterns indicated that masking in RSS reduced the visibility of characters by suppressing activity in the occipital cortex and reduced connectivity in both orthographical and attention networks.

Sex differences in perceptual processing of Chinese characters emerge in middle-grade primary school children

Sex differences in perceptual processing of Chinese characters emerge in middle-grade primary school children

Neural representation of phonological information during Chinese character reading.

Previous studies have revealed that phonological processing of Chinese characters elicited activation in the left prefrontal cortex, bilateral parietal cortex, and occipitotemporal regions. However, it is controversial what role the left middle frontal gyrus plays in Chinese character reading, and whether the core regions (e.g., the left superior temporal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus) for phonological processing of alphabetic languages are also involved in Chinese character reading. To address these questions, the present study used both univariate and multivariate analysis (i.e., representational similarity analysis, RSA) to explore neural representations of phonological information during Chinese character reading. Participants were scanned while performing a reading aloud task. Univariate activation analysis revealed a widely distributed network for word reading, including the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, lateral temporal cortex, and occipitotemporal cortex. More importantly, RSA showed that the left prefrontal (i.e., the left middle frontal gyrus and left inferior frontal gyrus) and bilateral occipitotemporal areas (i.e., the left inferior and middle temporal gyrus and bilateral fusiform gyrus) represented phonological information of Chinese characters. These results confirmed the importance of the left middle frontal gyrus and regions in ventral pathway in representing phonological information of Chinese characters.

Increased Gray Matter Volume Induced by Chinese Language Acquisition in Adult Alphabetic Language Speakers.

It is interesting to explore the effects of second language (L2) acquisition on anatomical change in brain at different stages for the neural structural adaptations are dynamic. Short-term Chinese training effects on brain anatomical structures in alphabetic language speakers have been already studied. However, little is known about the adaptations of the gray matter induced by acquiring Chinese language for a relatively long learning period in adult alphabetic language speakers. To explore this issue, we recruited 38 Indian overseas students in China as our subjects. The learned group included 17 participants who had learned Mandarin Chinese for an average of 3.24 years and achieved intermediate Chinese language proficiency. The control group included 21 subjects who had no knowledge about Chinese. None of the participants had any experience in learning logographic and tonal language before Chinese learning. We found that (1) the learned group had significantly greater gray matter volume (GMV) in the left lingual gyrus (LG) compared with the control group; (2) the Chinese characters’ reading accuracy was significantly and positively correlated to the GMV in the left LG and fusiform gyrus (FG) across the two groups; and (3) in the learned group, the duration of Chinese learning was significantly and positively correlated with the GMV in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) after correction for multiple comparisons with small volume corrections. Our structural imaging findings are in line with the functional imaging studies reporting increased brain activation induced by Chinese acquisition in alphabetic language speakers. The regional gray matter changes reflected the additional requirements imposed by the more difficult processing of Chinese characters and tones. The present study also show that the biological bases of the adaptations induced by a relatively long period of Chinese learning were limited in the common areas for first and foreign language processing.