scholarly journals The lifespan of lexical traces for novel morphologically complex words

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura de Vaan ◽  
Mirjam Ernestus ◽  
Robert Schreuder
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Base Frequency ◽  
Memory Traces ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Visual Lexical Decision

This study investigates the lifespans of lexical traces for novel morphologically complex words. In two visual lexical decision experiments, a neologism was either primed by itself or by its stem. The target occurred 40 trials after the prime (Experiments 1 & 2), after a 12 hour delay (Experiment 1), or after a one week delay (Experiment 2). Participants recognized neologisms more quickly if they had seen them before in the experiment. These results show that memory traces for novel morphologically complex words already come into existence after a very first exposure and that they last for at least a week. We did not find evidence for a role of sleep in the formation of memory traces. Interestingly, Base Frequency appeared to play a role in the processing of the neologisms also when they were presented a second time and had their own memory traces.

The Effects of Base Frequency and Affix Productivity in Spanish

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 505-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Lázaro López-Villaseñor
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Frequency Effect ◽  
Base Frequency ◽  
Pair Comparisons ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Main Effects ◽  
First Time ◽  
Pair Analysis ◽  
Morphological Representation

In this study we present the results of a lexical decision experiment where the variables manipulated are Base frequency and Affix productivity. The results show significant main effects for both variables for the first time in Spanish, as well as for the interaction between the two. However, pair analysis shows that the Base Frequency effect is not significant when the Affix Productivity is low, while the Affix Productivity effect is produced regardless of the Base Frequency. The results for the main effects show a morphological representation in the lexicon, whilst the results of pair comparisons suggest a different representation of stems and affixes in the lexicon. These results support the idea that complex words incorporating unproductive affixes are processed differently from words incorporating productive affixes. The results are finally explained in terms of a hierarchical model of morphological processing.

An fMRI study of visual lexical decision in patients with schizophrenia and clinical high-risk individuals

2014 ◽  
Vol 157 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 218-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsunobu Natsubori ◽  
Ryu-ichiro Hashimoto ◽  
Noriaki Yahata ◽  
Hideyuki Inoue ◽  
Yosuke Takano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Clinical High Risk ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Visual Lexical Decision

The asymmetric contribution of consonants and vowels to phonological similarity

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rory Turnbull ◽  
Sharon Peperkamp
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Lexical Priming ◽  
Precise Nature ◽  
Auditory Lexical Decision ◽  
Unrelated Condition

Abstract Lexical priming is known to arise from phonological similarity between prime and target, and this phenomenon is an important component of our understanding of the processes of lexical access and competition. However, the precise nature of the role of phonological similarity in lexical priming is understudied. In the present study, two experiments were conducted in which participants performed auditory lexical decision on CVC targets which were preceded by primes that either matched the target in all phonemes (CVC condition), in the first two phonemes (CV_ condition), the last two phonemes (_VC condition), the initial and last phonemes (C_C condition) or no phonemes (unrelated condition). Relative to the unrelated condition, all conditions except CV_ led to facilitation of response time to target words. The _VC and C_C conditions led to equivalent facilitation magnitude, while the CV_ condition showed neither facilitation nor inhibition. Accounting for these results requires appeal to processes of lexical competition and also to the notion that phonemes do not lend equivalent phonological similarity; that is, vowels and consonants are processed differently.

Language processing and language acquisition through the lens of Relational Morphology

2019 ◽  
pp. 201-232
Author(s):  
Ray Jackendoff ◽  
Jenny Audring
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Spreading Activation ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
Memory Network ◽  
Complex Words

This chapter asks what is happening to linguistic representations during language use, and how representations are formed in the course of language acquisition. It is shown how Relational Morphology’s theory of representations can be directly embedded into models of processing and acquisition. Central is that the lexicon, complete with schemas and relational links, constitutes the long-term memory network that supports language production and comprehension. The chapter first discusses processing: the nature of working memory; promiscuous (opportunistic) processing; spreading activation; priming; probabilistic parsing; the balance between storage and computation in recognizing morphologically complex words; and the role of relational links and schemas in word retrieval. It then turns to acquisition, which is to be thought of as adding nodes and relational links to the lexical network. The general approach is based on the Propose but Verify procedure of Trueswell et al. (2013), plus conservative generalization, as in usage-based approaches.

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