Letter and grapheme perception in English and Dutch

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Bolger ◽  
Susanne R. Borgwaldt ◽  
Emőke Jakab
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Reading Acquisition ◽  
Strong Version ◽  
Letter Detection ◽  
Data Basis ◽  
Skilled Reading ◽  
Syllabic Structure ◽  
Models Of Reading

In the study of reading, there is a debate about whether letters or graphemes are the primary units of perception. A promising data basis for empirically contributing to this debate can be gained from measuring the perception of single vowel letters compared to vowel digraphs. We used letter detection with masked pseudoword primes on pseudoword targets among skilled native readers in order to test for the existence and time course of vowel digraph effects during reading in deep (English) and shallow (Dutch) orthographies. Selecting these two languages, which are similar in terms of syllabic structure, allowed us to use exactly the same pseudoword stimuli. Results indicate that whereas the Dutch readers show letter effects at short prime durations and digraph effects at longer prime durations, the English readers show only letter effects. These findings are inconsistent with a strong version of the claim that graphemes are perceptual in nature, but consistent with models of reading acquisition and skilled reading that predict that, although letter effects always precede grapheme effects, grapheme activation proceeds faster in relatively shallow orthographies than in relatively deep ones.

Connectionist models of reading

2007 ◽  
pp. 234-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark S. Seidenberg
Keyword(s):  
Computational Models ◽  
Distributed Processing ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Task Orientation ◽  
Connectionist Models ◽  
Grain Sizes ◽  
Skilled Reading ◽  
Simple Processing ◽  
Reading Impairments ◽  
Models Of Reading

Connectionist computational models have been extensively used in the study of reading: how children learn to read, skilled reading, and reading impairments (dyslexia). The models are computer programs that simulate detailed aspects of behaviour. This article provides an overview of connectionist models of reading, with an emphasis on the “triangle” framework. The term “connectionism” refers to a broad, varied set of ideas, loosely connected by an emphasis on the notion that complexity, at different grain sizes or scales ranging from neurons to overt behaviour, emerges from the aggregate behaviour of large networks of simple processing units. This article focuses on the parallel distributed processing variety developed by Rumelhart, McClelland, and Hinton (1986). First, it describes basic elements of connectionist models of reading: task orientation, distributed representations, learning, hidden units, and experience. The article then looks at how models are used to establish causal effects, along with quasiregularity and division of labor.

Shallow Versus Deep Footprints in Pseudo-Word Grapheme-to-Phoneme Conversion: Dutch and English

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-443
Author(s):  
Susanne R. Borgwaldt ◽  
Patrick Bolger ◽  
Emőke Jakab
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Reading Development ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Letter Detection ◽  
Reading Processes

Our study is concerned with reading processes. Using a letter-detection paradigm with masked priming, we tested for the existence and time course of vowel digraph effects in Dutch and English. Whereas Dutch readers showed digraph effects with 67-ms primes, English readers showed only letter effects at 67 ms and merely a weak digraph trend at 83 ms. These findings are consistent with the PSYCHOLOGICAL GRAIN SIZE THEORY, a model of reading development that predicts that grapheme-phoneme conversion proceeds faster in shallow than in deep orthographies. This also demonstrates that similar language structures can be processed differently if they are modulated by different inter-faces, in this case, orthography.

How do writing systems shape reading and reading acquisition?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Rastle
Keyword(s):  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Reading Acquisition ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Skilled Reading ◽  
Statistical Regularities ◽  
Reading System ◽  
The Relationship

Writing is a relatively recent cultural invention, and reading is a skill that requires years of instruction, dedication, and practice. My talk will consider how the nature of a writing system influences reading acquisition and skilled reading. I consider the nature of statistical regularities that characterize English orthography and show across several experiments that knowledge encoded in the skilled reading system mirrors these regularities. This analysis reveals that weaknesses in the relationship between spelling and sound give rise to powerful regularities between spelling and meaning that are critical for text comprehension. I conclude by thinking about how written language differs from spoken language and argue that these differences may be at the heart of human capacity for rapid, skilled reading.

scholarly journals Scaffolding Students’ Independent Decoding of Unfamiliar Text with a Prototype of an eBook-feature

10.28945/2317 ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 439-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stig T Gissel
Keyword(s):  
Reading Acquisition ◽  
Second Graders ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Learning Trajectory ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Text To Speech ◽  
Connectionist Models ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Models Of Reading

This study was undertaken to design, evaluate and refine an eBook-feature that supports students’ decoding of unfamiliar text. The feature supports students’ independent reading of eBooks with text-to-speech, graded support in the form of syllabification and rhyme analogy, and by dividing the word material into different categories based on the frequency and regularity of the word or its constituent parts. The eBook-feature is based on connectionist models of reading and reading acquisition and the theory of scaffolding. Students are supported in mapping between spelling and sound, in identifying the relevant spelling patterns and in generalizing, in order to strengthen their decoding skills. The prototype was evaluated with Danish students in the second grade to see how and under what circumstances students can use the feature in ways that strengthen their decoding skills and support them in reading unfamiliar text. It was found that most students could interact with the eBook-material in ways that the envisioned learning trajectory in the study predicts are beneficial in strengthening their decoding skills. The study contributes with both principles for designing digital learning material with supportive features for decoding unfamiliar text and with a concrete proposal for a design. The perspectives for making reading acquisition more differentiated and meaningful for second graders in languages with irregular spelling are discussed.

How German-speaking first graders read and spell: Doubts on the importance of the logographic stage

1990 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinz Wimmer ◽  
Peter Hummer
Keyword(s):  
First Graders ◽  
Reading Acquisition ◽  
Reading Performance ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Spelling Performance ◽  
Reading Errors ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Models Of Reading

ABSTRACTThe logographic stage assumption in recent models of reading acquisition was examined by studying how German-speaking first graders read and spelled familiar words and matched pseudowords. Reading acquisition by German-speaking children provides an interesting case because the German writing system, in contrast to the English one, is phonologically rather transparent. To further test whether the transition from the logographic to the alphabetic stage poses a major obstacle at the beginning of reading, normally progressing first graders were contrasted with children who experienced serious difficulties at the beginning of reading and writing. In contrast to studies with American and British first graders, it was found that both normally progressing and delayed children relied on alphabetic strategies for both reading and writing, (a) Most children were able to read and - to a lesser extent - to spell completely unfamiliar pseudowords. (b) Reading of pseudowords correlated highly with reading of familiar words, and the same correlation was observed in the case of spelling, (c) Reading errors consisted mainly of nonwords beginning with the first letter(s) of the target, and most spelling errors consisted of spellings that were at least partially phonologically correct, (d) Reading performance was influenced by word exposure time, (e) Both reading performance and spelling performance were strongly predicted by knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. These findings support the conclusion that a logographic strategy is of limited importance when the writing system is phonologically rather transparent and when the instructional approach does not withhold information about grapheme-phoneme correspondences.

Ultrastructural Changes of the Symbiotic Chlorella-Like Alga Isolated from Hydra Viridis

1982 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 320-321
Author(s):  
K.W. Lee ◽  
R.H. Meints ◽  
D. Kuczmarski ◽  
J.L. Van Etten
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Reciprocal Cross ◽  
Ultrastructural Level ◽  
Ultrastructural Changes ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
Cell Recognition ◽  
Green Hydra ◽  
Different Strains ◽  
Hydra Viridis

The physiological, biochemical, and ultrastructural aspects of the symbiotic relationship between the Chlorella-like algae and the hydra have been intensively investigated. Reciprocal cross-transfer of the Chlorellalike algae between different strains of green hydra provide a system for the study of cell recognition. However, our attempts to culture the algae free of the host hydra of the Florida strain, Hydra viridis, have been consistently unsuccessful. We were, therefore, prompted to examine the isolated algae at the ultrastructural level on a time course.

Destruction of Actin Filaments by Osmium Tetroxide

1977 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 466-467
Author(s):  
P. Maupin-Szamier ◽  
T. D. Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Rabbit Muscle ◽  
Muscle Actin ◽  
Sodium Phosphate Buffer ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Rates Of Decay ◽  
Short Time

We have studied the destruction of rabbit muscle actin filaments by osmium tetroxide (OSO4) to develop methods which will preserve the structure of actin filaments during preparation for transmission electron microscopy.Negatively stained F-actin, which appears as smooth, gently curved filaments in control samples (Fig. 1a), acquire an angular, distorted profile and break into progressively shorter pieces after exposure to OSO4 (Fig. 1b,c). We followed the time course of the reaction with viscometry since it is a simple, quantitative method to assess filament integrity. The difference in rates of decay in viscosity of polymerized actin solutions after the addition of four concentrations of OSO4 is illustrated in Fig. 2. Viscometry indicated that the rate of actin filament destruction is also dependent upon temperature, buffer type, buffer concentration, and pH, and requires the continued presence of OSO4. The conditions most favorable to filament preservation are fixation in a low concentration of OSO4 for a short time at 0°C in 100mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 6.0.

The time course of calcium deposition in shells of the barnacle (Balanus amphititre amphititre) during cyprid-juvenile metamorphosis

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 178-179
Author(s):  
Nancy R. Wallace ◽  
Craig C. Freudenrich ◽  
Karl Wilbur ◽  
Peter Ingram ◽  
Ann LeFurgey
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Mantle Cavity ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Calcium Deposition ◽  
Free Swimming ◽  
Freeze Dried ◽  
Scanning Electron

The morphology of balanomorph barnacles during metamorphosis from the cyprid larval stage to the juvenile has been examined by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The free-swimming cyprid attaches to a substrate, rotates 90° in the vertical plane, molts, and assumes the adult shape. The resulting metamorph is clad in soft cuticle and has an adult-like appearance with a mantle cavity, thorax with cirri, and incipient shell plates. At some time during the development from cyprid to juvenile, the barnacle begins to mineralize its shell, but it is not known whether calcification occurs before, during, or after ecdysis. To examine this issue, electron probe x-ray microanalysis (EPXMA) was used to detect calcium in cyprids and juveniles at various times during metamorphosis.Laboratory-raised, free-swimming cyprid larvae were allowed to settle on plastic coverslips in culture dishes of seawater. The cyprids were observed with a dissecting microscope, cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen-cooled liquid propane at various times (0-24 h) during metamorphosis, freeze dried, rotary carbon-coated, and examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). EPXMA dot maps were obtained in parallel for qualitative assessment of calcium and other elements in the carapace, wall, and opercular plates.

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