Semantic priming increases word frequency judgments: Evidence for the role of memory strength in frequency estimation

2015 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 152-160
Author(s):  
Dan J. Woltz ◽  
Michael K. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Frequency Estimation ◽  
Memory Strength ◽  
Frequency Judgments

scholarly journals EEG Correlates of Old/New Discrimination Performance Involving Abstract Figures and Non-Words

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 719
Author(s):  
Monika Toth ◽  
Anke Sambeth ◽  
Arjan Blokland
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Memory Strength ◽  
Verbal Stimuli ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
New Item

The processing of pre-experimentally unfamiliar stimuli such as abstract figures and non-words is poorly understood. Here, we considered the role of memory strength in the discrimination process of such stimuli using a three-phase old/new recognition memory paradigm. Memory strength was manipulated as a function of the levels of processing (deep vs. shallow) and repetition. Behavioral results were matched to brain responses using EEG. We found that correct identification of the new abstract figures and non-words was superior to old item recognition when they were merely studied without repetition, but not when they were semantically processed or drawn. EEG results indicated that successful new item identification was marked by a combination of the absence of familiarity (N400) and recollection (P600) for the studied figures. For both the abstract figures and the non-words, the parietal P600 was found to differentiate between the old and new items (late old/new effects). The present study extends current knowledge on the processing of pre-experimentally unfamiliar figurative and verbal stimuli by showing that their discrimination depends on experimentally induced memory strength and that the underlying brain processes differ. Nevertheless, the P600, similar to pre-experimentally familiar figures and words, likely reflects improved recognition memory of meaningless pictorial and verbal items.

scholarly journals Gender Assignment in Six North Scandinavian Languages: Patterns of Variation and Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 264-315
Author(s):  
Briana Van Epps ◽  
Gerd Carling ◽  
Yair Sapir
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Feminine Gender ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
Old Swedish ◽  
Gender System ◽  
Gender Change

This study addresses gender assignment in six North Scandinavian varieties with a three-gender system: Old Norse, Norwegian (Nynorsk), Old Swedish, Nysvenska, Jamtlandic, and Elfdalian. Focusing on gender variation and change, we investigate the role of various factors in gender change. Using the contemporary Swedish varieties Jamtlandic and Elfdalian as a basis, we compare gender assignment in other North Scandinavian languages, tracing the evolution back to Old Norse. The data consist of 1,300 concepts from all six languages coded for cognacy, gender, and morphological and semantic variation. Our statistical analysis shows that the most important factors in gender change are the Old Norse weak/strong inflection, Old Norse gender, animate/inanimate distinction, word frequency, and loan status. From Old Norse to modern languages, phonological assignment principles tend to weaken, due to the general loss of word-final endings. Feminine words are more susceptible to changing gender, and the tendency to lose the feminine is noticeable even in the varieties in our study upholding the three-gender system. Further, frequency is significantly correlated with unstable gender. In semantics, only the animate/inanimate distinction signifi-cantly predicts gender assignment and stability. In general, our study confirms the decay of the feminine gender in the Scandinavian branch of Germanic.

scholarly journals Studies on semantic priming effects in right hemisphere stroke: A systematic review

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-163
Author(s):  
Juliana de Lima Müller ◽  
Jerusa Fumagalli de Salles
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Cerebral Hemisphere ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Right Cerebral Hemisphere ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Hemisphere Stroke

ABSTRACT The role of the right cerebral hemisphere (RH) associated with semantic priming effects (SPEs) must be better understood, since the consequences of RH damage on SPE are not yet well established. Objective: The aim of this article was to investigate studies analyzing SPEs in patients affected by stroke in the RH through a systematic review, verifying whether there are deficits in SPEs, and whether performance varies depending on the type of semantic processing evaluated or stimulus in the task. Methods: A search was conducted on the LILACS, PUBMED and PSYCINFO databases. Results: Out of the initial 27 studies identified, 11 remained in the review. Difficulties in SPEs were shown in five studies. Performance does not seem to vary depending on the type of processing, but on the type of stimulus used. Conclusion: This ability should be evaluated in individuals that have suffered a stroke in the RH in order to provide treatments that will contribute to their recovery.

Effects of Response Range in Frequency Judgments of Common versus Uncommon Events

1996 ◽  
Vol 82 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1371-1376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimihiko Yamagishi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
Frequency Estimation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Social Facts ◽  
Frequency Judgments ◽  
Response Range ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Wide Condition

Frequency estimation of social facts was compared between two methods of response elicitation. In the “narrow range” method, respondents answered questions like: “Out of 100 instances, how many instances belong to category X?”. In the “wide range” method, the same question was asked regarding “Out of 10,000.” A previous study in 1994 showed that judged frequencies were proportionally greater in the narrow condition than in the wide condition when subjects estimated the occurrence of low-frequency events. These results were interpreted to reflect cognitive processes of anchoring, wherein judged frequencies he close to small numbers within particular response ranges. The current work extends this argument to high-frequency events. In such cases, judgments about high-frequency events would be reached by similar cognitive processes operating toward the opposite direction. Hence, I predicted that judged frequencies for high-frequency events would be proportionally greater in the wide than in the narrow condition. Results were mostly consistent with these predictions. The relation to previous research is discussed.

scholarly journals Determinants of lexical access in speech production: Role of word frequency and age of acquisition

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 999-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Cuetos ◽  
Bernardo Alvarez ◽  
María González-Nosti ◽  
Alain Méot ◽  
Patrick Bonin
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Age Of Acquisition

scholarly journals Age of word acquisition effects in treatment of children with phonological delays

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDITH A. GIERUT ◽  
MICHELE L. MORRISETTE
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Multiple Baseline ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Phonological Learning ◽  
Word Acquisition

ABSTRACTThe effects of the age of acquisition (AoA) of words were examined in the clinical treatment of 10 preschool children with phonological delays. Using a single-subject multiple-baseline experimental design, children were enrolled in one of four conditions that varied the AoA of the treated words (early vs. late acquired) relative to their corresponding word frequency (high vs. low frequency). Phonological generalization to treated and untreated sounds in error served as the dependent variable. Results showed that late acquired words induced greater generalization, with an effect size four times greater than early acquired words, whereas the effects of word frequency were minimized. Results are discussed relative to hypotheses about the role of AoA in language acquisition and the relevance of this variable for phonological learning.

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