Spelling-sound Consistency Research Articles

Using Monte-Carlo simulation to test predictions about the time-course of semantic and lexical access in reading.

One of the main theoretical distinctions between reading models is how and when they predict semantic processing occurs. Some models assume semantic activation occurs after word-form is retrieved. Other models assume there is no-word form, and that what people think of as word-form is actually just semantics. These models thus predict semantic effects should occur early in reading. Results showing words with inconsistent spelling-sound correspondences are faster to read aloud if they are imageable/concrete compared to if they are abstract have been used as evidence supporting this prediction, although null-effects have also been reported. To investigate this, I used Monte-Carlo simulation to create a large set of simulated experiments from RTs taken from different databases. The results showed significant main effects of concreteness and spelling-sound consistency, as well as age-of-acquisition, a variable that can potentially confound the results. Alternatively, simulations showing a significant interaction between spelling-sound consistency and concreteness did not occur above chance, even without controlling for age-of-acquisition. These results support models that use lexical form. In addition, they suggest significant interactions from previous experiments may have occurred due to idiosyncratic items affecting the results and random noise causing the occasional statistical error.

Pseudoword spelling: insights into sublexical representations and lexical interactions

ABSTRACT In this work we introduce a new tool for measuring English spelling-sound consistency, the PG Toolkit, which we use to conduct detailed analyses of pseudoword spellings that provide new insights into the nature of sublexical and lexical representations. There are several key findings: first, sound-spelling consistency measured at two different “grain sizes”, phonographeme and onset/rime, each explained unique variance in pseudoword spelling. Second, lexical skill was more related to pseudoword accuracy at the onset/rime level than at the phonographeme level, and individuals who chose more consistent mappings to spell pseudowords tended to have better lexical skill. Finally, no unique contribution of consistency in the reading direction (“feedback”) was found after controlling for consistency in the spelling direction. Taken together, the results validate the various measures provided by the PG Toolkit and establish new evidence that supports an interpretation of sublexical processes as operations over hierarchically-structured representations.

Spelling-sound consistency influences second-language age of acquisition effect: evidence for the arbitrary mapping hypothesis

ABSTRACT The age at which people acquire a word influences word recognition, known as the age of acquisition (AoA) effect. In the first language (L1), AoA effects are widely found in various languages and experimental tasks. Arbitrary Mapping Hypothesis proposes that AoA effects reflect the loss of network plasticity during the learning of mappings between input and output representations. It predicts that the AoA effect appears (or is larger) when the input-output mapping is arbitrary/inconsistent, relative to consistent input-output mapping. The present study examined how these predictions generalised to the second language (L2). We explored whether the L2 AoA effect was modulated by spelling-sound consistency in Chinese-English bilinguals, adopting a delayed word naming task. The results showed that the mapping consistency modulated the L2 AoA effect on the N170, P200 and N400 components. L2 AoA effect was insignificant in the consistent condition but was significant in the inconsistent condition: late-acquired words elicited larger N170, smaller P200, and larger N400 compared to early-acquired words. These findings suggest that L2 AoA effects occur in the spelling-sound connections, providing direct evidence for the Arbitrary Mapping Hypothesis.

Spelling monosyllabic English words.

We conducted a megastudy to examine the spelling of American English monosyllables with typewritten responses. We related both sublexical and lexical/semantic factors to spelling accuracy and reaction time (RT) for the first keypress and response duration for spelling 1,856 monophonic monosyllables. We found that (a) each of 13 predictor variables was significantly related to performance for at least one measure, (b) orthographic length was unrelated to the first key RT, but did relate to accuracy and response duration, (c) sound-spelling and spelling-sound consistency was related to performance, and in particular, onset consistency related to accuracy and first key RT, but was unrelated to response duration, (d) contextual diversity was consistently related to performance across all measures, and (e) age of acquisition (AoA) was related to all measures, but was related more to the first key RT than response duration. The results indicate that people begin the spelling process once they identify the first letter, and they continue to process the spelling pattern as the response unfolds. These results are best explained by a parallel-distributed-processing framework.

Does MOED Rhyme with FRUIT? An event-related potential study of cross-language rhyming.

The study aimed to characterize the event-related potentials signature elicited by visual rhyme judgements across two alphabetic orthographies that differ in depth (shallow: Dutch; deep: English) and by spelling-sound consistency in a deep L2-English orthography. Twenty-four Dutch-English bilinguals who varied on measures of L2-English proficiency, made rhyme judgments of semantically unrelated Dutch-English word pairs presented sequentially in the visual modality, while behavioral and electrophysiological responses were recorded. The spelling-sound consistency of target words was varied systematically. Nonrhyming targets elicited a larger N450 amplitude than rhyming targets, indicating sensitivity to mismatching phonology across languages. English target words with consistent spelling-sound mappings elicited less negative N250 amplitudes when preceded by rhyming Dutch primes. Overall, event-related potentials revealed robust responses to phonological mismatch, but subtle responses to spelling-sound inconsistency in L2-English. Results suggest that bilingual readers of a shallow L1 orthography who are immersed in an L1-speaking environment may not tune into the degree of spelling-sound consistency of a deep L2 orthography.

Is the Science of Reading Just the Science of Reading English?

ABSTRACTThe science of reading has made genuine progress in understanding reading and the teaching of reading, but is the science of reading just the science of reading English? Worldwide, a majority of students learn to read and write in non‐European, nonalphabetic orthographies such as abjads (e.g., Arabic), abugidas/alphasyllabaries (e.g., Hindi), or morphosyllabaries (e.g., Chinese). Over a decade ago, I argued that the extreme inconsistency of English spelling–sound correspondence had confined the science of reading to an insular, Anglocentric research agenda addressing theoretical and applied issues with limited relevance for a universal science of reading. Here, I ask if the science of reading has moved forward. Acknowledging some limited progress over the past decade, it is evident that even today, mainstream reading research remains entrenched in Anglocentrism, Eurocentrism, and another form of ethnocentrism that I call alphabetism. Even the two dominant theoretical frameworks for describing cross‐script diversity, orthographic depth and psycholinguistic grain size theory, give little or no consideration to non‐European alphabets or nonalphabetic scripts, promoting a one‐dimensional view of script variation (i.e., spelling–sound consistency). Consideration of the full spectrum of the world’s languages and writing systems reveals multiple dimensions of writing system complexity, each liable to create obstacles for the developing reader. If the science of reading is to contribute meaningfully to assessment, diagnosis, instruction, and intervention for all readers around the world, then we must extricate our field from entrenched ethnocentrism and embrace global diversity.

How much does orthography influence the processing of reduced word forms? Evidence from novel-word learning about French schwa deletion.

This study examines the influence of orthography on the processing of reduced word forms. For this purpose, we compared the impact of phonological variation with the impact of spelling-sound consistency on the processing of words that may be produced with or without the vowel schwa. Participants learnt novel French words in which the vowel schwa was present or absent in the first syllable. In Experiment 1, the words were consistently produced without schwa or produced in a variable manner (i.e., sometimes produced with and sometimes produced without schwa). In Experiment 2, words were always produced in a consistent manner, but an orthographic exposure phase was included in which words that were produced without schwa were either spelled with or without the letter <e>. Results from naming and eye-tracking tasks suggest that both phonological variation and spelling-sound consistency influence the processing of spoken novel words. However, the influence of phonological variation outweighs the effect of spelling-sound consistency. Our findings therefore suggest that the influence of orthography on the processing of reduced word forms is relatively small.

Writing System Variation and Its Consequences for Reading and Dyslexia

ABSTRACTMost current theories of reading and dyslexia derive from a relatively narrow empirical base: research on English and a handful of other European alphabets. Furthermore, the two dominant theoretical frameworks for describing cross-script diversity—orthographic depth and psycholinguistic grain size theory—are also deeply entrenched in Anglophone and Eurocentric/alphabetocentric perspectives, giving little consideration to non-European writing systems and promoting a one-dimensional view of script variation, namely, spelling–sound consistency. Most dyslexics struggle to read in languages that are not European and orthographies that are not alphabetic such as abjads, abugidas, or morphosyllabaries; hence the full spectrum of the world’s writing systems needs to be considered. The global picture reveals multiple dimensions of complexity. We enumerate 10 such dimensions: linguistic distance, nonlinearity, visual complexity, historical change, spelling constancy despite morphophonemic alternation, omission of phonological elements, allography, dual purpose letters, ligaturing, and inventory size. We then consider how these 10 dimensions might affect variation in reading ability and dyslexia.

Dough, tough, cough, rough: A “fast” fMRI localizer of component processes in reading

In the current study, we present a novel fMRI protocol in which words, pseudowords, and other word-like stimuli are passively presented in a rapid, sequential fashion. In this “fast” localizer paradigm, items are presented in groups of four; within sets, words are related in orthographic, phonological, and/or semantic properties. We tested this protocol with a group of skilled adult readers (N=18). Analyses uncovered key regions of the reading network that were sensitive to different component processes at the group level; namely, left fusiform gyrus as well as the pars opercularis subregion of inferior frontal gyrus were sensitive to lexicality; several regions including left precentral gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus were sensitive to spelling-sound consistency; the pars triangularis subregion of inferior frontal gyrus was sensitive to semantic similarity. Additionally, in a number of key brain regions, activation in response to semantically similar words was related to individual differences in reading comprehension outside the scanner. Importantly, these findings are in line with previous investigations of the reading network, yet data were obtained using much less imaging time than comparable paradigms currently available, especially relative to the number of indices of component processes obtained. This feature, combined with the relatively simple nature of the task, renders it appropriate for groups of subjects with a wide range of reading abilities, including children with impairments.

Neurally dissociable cognitive components of reading deficits in subacute stroke.

According to cognitive models of reading, words are processed by interacting orthographic (spelling), phonological (sound), and semantic (meaning) information. Despite extensive study of the neural basis of reading in healthy participants, little group data exist on patients with reading deficits from focal brain damage pointing to critical neural systems for reading. Here, we report on one such study. We have performed neuropsychological testing and magnetic resonance imaging on 11 patients with left-hemisphere stroke (<=5 weeks post-stroke). Patients completed tasks assessing cognitive components of reading such as semantics (matching picture or word choices to a target based on meaning), phonology (matching word choices to a target based on rhyming), and orthography (a two-alternative forced choice of the most plausible non-word). They also read aloud pseudowords and words with high or low levels of usage frequency, imageability, and spelling-sound consistency. As predicted by the cognitive model, when averaged across patients, the influence of semantics was most salient for low-frequency, low-consistency words, when phonological decoding is especially difficult. Qualitative subtraction analyses revealed lesion sites specific to phonological processing. These areas were consistent with those shown previously to activate for phonology in healthy participants, including supramarginal, posterior superior temporal, middle temporal, inferior frontal gyri, and underlying white matter. Notable divergence between this analysis and previous functional imaging is the association of lesions in the mid-fusiform gyrus and anterior temporal lobe with phonological reading deficits. This study represents progress toward identifying brain lesion-deficit relationships in the cognitive components of reading. Such correspondences are expected to help not only better understand the neural mechanisms of reading, but may also help tailor reading therapy to individual neurocognitive deficit profiles.

Neural networks underlying contributions from semantics in reading aloud

Reading is an essential part of contemporary society, yet much is still unknown about the physiological underpinnings of its information processing components. Two influential cognitive models of reading, the connectionist and dual-route cascaded models, offer very different accounts, yet evidence for one or the other remains equivocal. These models differ in several ways, including the role of semantics (word meaning) in mapping spelling to sound. We used a new effective connectivity algorithm, IMaGES, to provide a network-level perspective on these network-level models. Left hemisphere regions of interest were defined based on main effects in functional magnetic resonance imaging and included two regions linked with semantic processing—angular gyrus (AG) and inferior temporal sulcus (ITS)—and two regions linked with phonological processing—posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG). Participants read aloud words of high or low spelling-sound consistency, word frequency, and imageability. Only the connectionist model predicted increased contributions from semantic areas with those computing phonology for low-consistency words. Effective connectivity analyses revealed that areas supporting semantic processing (e.g., the ITS) interacted with phonological areas (e.g., the pSTG), with the pattern changing as a function of word properties. Connectivity from semantic to phonological areas emerged for high- compared to low-imageability words, and a similar pattern emerged for low-consistency words, though only under certain conditions. Analyses of individual differences also showed that variation in the strength of modulation of ITS by AG was associated with reading aloud performance. Overall, these results suggest that connections with semantic processing areas are not only associated with reading aloud, but that these connections are also associated with optimal reading performance.

The Role of Children's Phonological and Semantic Knowledge in Learning to Read Words

The effect of phonology and semantics on word learning in 5- and 6-year-old children was explored. In Experiment 1, children learned to read words varying in spelling-sound consistency and imageability. Consistency affected performance on early trials, whereas imageability affected performance on later trials. Individual differences among children in phonemic awareness on the trained words were related to learning, and knowledge of a word's meaning predicted how well it was learned. In Experiment 2, phonological and semantic knowledge of nonwords was manipulated prior to word learning. Familiarization with a word's pronunciation facilitated word learning, but there was no additional benefit from being taught to associate a meaning with a nonword.

Orthography influences the perception and production of speech.

One intriguing question in language research concerns the extent to which orthographic information impacts on spoken word processing. Previous research has faced a number of methodological difficulties and has not reached a definitive conclusion. Our research addresses these difficulties by capitalizing on recent developments in the area of word learning. Participants were trained to criterion on a set of associations between novel pictures and novel spoken words. Spelling-sound consistent or spelling-sound inconsistent spellings were introduced on the 2nd day, and the influence of these spellings on speech processing was assessed on the 3rd day. Results showed significant orthographic effects on speech perception and speech production in a situation in which spelling-sound consistency was manipulated with perfect experimental control. Results are discussed in terms of a highly interactive language system in which there is a rapid and automatic flow of activation in both directions between orthographic and phonological representations.

Orthographic Influences When Processing Spoken Pseudowords: Theoretical Implications

When we hear an utterance, is the orthographic representation of that utterance activated when it is being processed? Orthographic influences have been previously examined in relation to spoken pseudoword processing in three different paradigms. Unlike real word processing, no orthographic effects with pseudowords have been observed in a phoneme goodness ratings task, and there is a mixed outcome in studies looking for spelling–sound consistency effects. In contrast, the orthography of spoken pseudohomographs has been shown to be activated, given that they prime their homographic base word. Explanations are sought for the findings in these three paradigms, leading to an exploration of theoretical models of spoken word recognition.

Modeling reading development: Cumulative, incremental learning in a computational model of word naming

Natural reading development gradually builds up to the adult vocabulary over a period of years. This has an effect on lexical processing: early-acquired words are processed more quickly and more accurately than later-acquired words. We present a connectionist model of reading, learning to map orthography onto phonology to simulate this natural reading development. The model learned early words more robustly than late words, and also showed interactions between age of acquisition and spelling-sound consistency that have been reported for skilled adult readers. In additional simulations, we demonstrated that age of acquisition effects are a consequence of incremental exposure to words in concert with changes in plasticity as learning proceeds, and are not due to uncontrolled differences in ease of reading between early and late-acquired words. Models which do not learn through cumulative training are unable to explain age of acquisition and related effects.

Neural systems for reading aloud: a multiparametric approach.

Reading aloud involves computing the sound of a word from its visual form. This may be accomplished 1) by direct associations between spellings and phonology and 2) by computation from orthography to meaning to phonology. These components have been studied in behavioral experiments examining lexical properties such as word frequency; length in letters or phonemes; spelling–sound consistency; semantic factors such as imageability, measures of orthographic, or phonological complexity; and others. Effects of these lexical properties on specific neural systems, however, are poorly understood, partially because high intercorrelations among lexical factors make it difficult to determine if they have independent effects. We addressed this problem by decorrelating several important lexical properties through careful stimulus selection. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data revealed distributed neural systems for mapping orthography directly to phonology, involving left supramarginal, posterior middle temporal, and fusiform gyri. Distinct from these were areas reflecting semantic processing, including left middle temporal gyrus/inferior-temporal sulcus, bilateral angular gyrus, and precuneus/posterior cingulate. Left inferior frontal regions generally showed increased activation with greater task load, suggesting a more general role in attention, working memory, and executive processes. These data offer the first clear evidence, in a single study, for the separate neural correlates of orthography–phonology mapping and semantic access during reading aloud.

Simulating consistency effects and individual differences in nonword naming: A comparison of current models

Abstract The mechanisms underlying nonword pronunciation have a been a focus of debates over dual-route and connectionist models of reading aloud. The present study examined two aspects of nonword naming: spelling-sound consistency effects and variability in the pronunciations assigned to ambiguous nonwords such as MOUP. Performance of a parallel distributed processing model was assessed over multiple runs, representing multiple subjects with varying reading experience. The model provided a good account of behavioral data concerning these phenomena. In contrast, the Dual Route Cascaded model does not produce consistency effects and does not account for the alternative pronunciations that subjects produce. The results highlight the importance of considering multiple aspects of a phenomenon such as nonword naming in assessing computational models.

Surface Dyslexia in Semantic Dementia: A Comparison of the Influence of Consistency and Regularity

This study addressed the question of exactly which aspects of spelling-sound consistency influence accuracy of reading aloud in surface dyslexic patients with semantic dementia. Oral reading data were obtained from twelve patients on three sets of words that varied in regularity (defined according to grapheme-phoneme correspondences) and consistency (defined according to the pronunciation of word body neighbours). The patients were less accurate for irregular/inconsistent words, which they commonly pronounced in line with sound-spelling regularities, as expected in surface dyslexia. They produced plausible but incorrect responses for some regular as well as many irregular words, suggesting that their reading performance was influenced by sound-spelling relationships not captured by grapheme-phoneme correspondences. On a set of items that varied consistency and regularity independently, the patients showed a large effect of regularity and a smaller but significant effect of consistency in reading aloud. In addition, there was a correlation between degree of semantic impairment and level of reading accuracy for inconsistent items. These findings are discussed in terms of two influential models of reading: the dual-route-cascaded model (Coltheart et al., 2001) and the triangle model (Plaut et al., 1996). It is argued that the triangle model provides a more straightforward account of the relationship between word comprehension and consistency effects in reading.

Spelling–sound consistency effects in disyllabic word naming

The present study investigated the role of spelling–sound consistency in naming printed disyllabic words. Participants in Experiment 1 named 1000 monomorphemic six-letter disyllabic words. Spelling–sound consistency measures for 11 orthographic segments were used to predict the naming latencies and error rates on the words. The consistency of vowel segments, particularly the one in the second syllable, contributed significantly to the prediction of naming latencies and error rates. In addition, the consistency of the BOB (body-of-the-BOSS, which is the orthographic segment containing the first vowel grapheme and as many following consonants as make an orthographically legal word ending) was also a significant predictor. The effect of the spelling–sound consistency of BOB and V 2 segments was replicated in factorial experiments. These findings suggest that readers learn spelling–sound relationships not only for individual letters of graphemes but also for larger orthographic segments in disyllabic words, likely those that provide information about pronunciations beyond that of the individual letters of which they are composed. This study provides the kind of information that is needed to extend current models of word recognition beyond their current focus on monosyllabic words to more complex words.

Spelling-Sound Consistency and Regularity Effects in Word Naming

The present study addressed two questions regarding the computation of phonological representations from print. The first was whether spelling-sound regularity or spelling-sound consistency best characterizes the difficulty associated with naming a word. Clear evidence was obtained for an effect of word-body consistency. There was only a small influence on pronunciation that may be attributable to the use of knowledge about how letters are typically pronounced regardless of context. The second question was whether there is an interaction of frequency with regularity and consistency when frequency and neighborhood characteristics are not confounded. Only a weak interaction was observed in the latency data, although a significant interaction was observed in the error data. Simulations of the data by the DRC model (Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993) and the Plaut, McClelland, Seidenberg, and Patterson (1996) model are presented, and the implications of the results for these models is discussed.