scholarly journals Exploring the Activation of Semantic and Phonological Codes during Speech Planning with Event-Related Brain Potentials

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 951-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg D. Jescheniak ◽  
Herbert Schriefers ◽  
Merrill F. Garrett ◽  
Angela D. Friederici
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Size Judgment ◽  
Auditory Target ◽  
Object Processing ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Unrelated Control ◽  
Speech Planning

We present a new technique for studying the activation of semantic and phonological codes in speech planning using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) that extend a well-established behavioral procedure from speech production research. It combines a delayed picture-naming task with a priming procedure. While participants prepared the production of a depicted object's name, they heard an auditory target word. If the prepared picture name and the target word were semantically or phonologically related, the ERP waveform to the target word tended less towards the negative when compared to an unrelated control. These effects were widely distributed. By contrast, if participants performed a nonlinguistic task on the depicted object (natural size judgment), the semantic effect was still obtained while the phonological effect disappeared. This suggests that the former effect indexes semantic activation involved in object processing while the latter effect indexes word-form activation specific to lexical processing. The data are discussed in the context of models of lexical access in speech production.

Electrophysiological Chronometry of Semantic Context Effects in Language Production

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1567-1586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Aristei ◽  
Alissa Melinger ◽  
Rasha Abdel Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Semantic Context ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Production Research ◽  
Overt Speech

In this study, we investigated semantic context effects in language production with event-related brain potentials, extracted from the ongoing EEG recorded during overt speech production. We combined the picture–word interference paradigm and the semantic blocking paradigm to investigate the temporal dynamics and functional loci of semantic facilitation and interference effects. Objects were named in the context of semantically homogeneous blocks consisting of related objects and heterogeneous blocks consisting of unrelated objects. In each blocking condition, semantically related and unrelated distractor words were presented. Results show that classic patterns of semantically induced facilitation and interference effects in RTs can be directly related to ERP modulations located at temporal and frontal sites, starting at about 200 msec. Results also suggest that the processes associated with semantic facilitation and interference effects (i.e., conceptual and lexical processing) are highly interactive and coincide in time. Implications for the use of event-related brain potentials in speech production research and implications for current models of speech production are discussed.

scholarly journals Cascading activation across levels of representation in children's lexical processing

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 644-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
YI TING HUANG ◽  
JESSE SNEDEKER
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Target Word ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Semantic Representations ◽  
Unrelated Control ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Cascading Activation

ABSTRACTRecent work in adult psycholinguistics has demonstrated that activation of semantic representations begins long before phonological processing is complete. This incremental propagation of information across multiple levels of analysis is a hallmark of adult language processing but how does this ability develop? In two experiments, we elicit measures of incremental activation of semantic representations during word recognition in children. Five-year-olds were instructed to select a target (logs) while their eye-movements were measured to a competitor (key) that was semantically related to an absent phonological associate (lock). We found that, like adults, children made increased looks to competitors relative to unrelated control items. However, unlike adults, children continued to look at the competitor even after the target word was uniquely identified and were more likely to incorrectly select this item. Altogether, these results suggest that early lexical processing involves cascading activation but less efficient resolution of competing entries.

scholarly journals Paradigmatic enhancement of stem vowels in regular English inflected verb forms

Morphology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-199
Author(s):  
Fabian Tomaschek ◽  
Benjamin V. Tucker ◽  
Michael Ramscar ◽  
R. Harald Baayen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Word Structure ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Phonetic Realization

AbstractMany theories of word structure in linguistics and morphological processing in cognitive psychology are grounded in a compositional perspective on the (mental) lexicon in which complex words are built up during speech production from sublexical elements such as morphemes, stems, and exponents. When combined with the hypothesis that storage in the lexicon is restricted to the irregular, the prediction follows that properties specific to regular inflected words cannot co-determine the phonetic realization of these inflected words. This study shows that the stem vowels of regular English inflected verb forms that are more frequent in their paradigm are produced with more enhanced articulatory gestures in the midsaggital plane, challenging compositional models of lexical processing. The effect of paradigmatic probability dovetails well with the Paradigmatic Enhancement Hypothesis and is consistent with a growing body of research indicating that the whole is more than its parts.

Age-related effects in compound production: Evidence from a double-object picture naming task

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 1667-1681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Lorenz ◽  
Pienie Zwitserlood ◽  
Stefanie Regel ◽  
Rasha Abdel Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Processing Load ◽  
Semantic Interference ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Whole Word

This study investigated effects of healthy ageing and of non-verbal attentional control on speech production. Young and older speakers participated in a picture-word interference (PWI) task with compound targets. To increase the processing load, the two pictures of the compounds’ constituents were presented side-by-side for spoken naming (e.g., a picture of a sun + a picture of a flower to be named with sunflower). Written distractors either corresponded to the first or second constituent ( sun or flower → sunflower), or were semantically related either to the first constituent of the target ( moon → sunflower) or to the second constituent/whole word ( tulip → sunflower). Morpho-phonological facilitation was obtained for both constituents, whereas semantic interference was restricted to first-constituent-related semantic distractors. Furthermore, a trend towards facilitation was obtained for distractors that were semantically related to the whole word. Older speakers were slower and produced more errors than young speakers. While morphological effects of first-constituent distractors were stronger for the elderly, the semantic effects were not affected by age. Non-verbal attentional control processes, measured in the Simon task, significantly contributed to morpho-phonological priming in the elderly, but they did not affect semantic interference or semantic facilitation. With a picture naming task that increases the semantic and lexical processing load, we corroborate earlier evidence that word-finding difficulties in the elderly result from deficient phonological encoding, whereas lexical-semantic and morpho-phonological representations remain stable with age.

scholarly journals Perceptual and conceptual processing of visual objects across the adult lifespan

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Bruffaerts ◽  
◽  
Lorraine K. Tyler ◽  
Meredith Shafto ◽  
Kamen A. Tsvetanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Object Processing ◽  
Adult Lifespan ◽  
Conceptual Processing ◽  
Mature Adults ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
Age Related

Abstract Making sense of the external world is vital for multiple domains of cognition, and so it is crucial that object recognition is maintained across the lifespan. We investigated age differences in perceptual and conceptual processing of visual objects in a population-derived sample of 85 healthy adults (24–87 years old) by relating measures of object processing to cognition across the lifespan. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was recorded during a picture naming task to provide a direct measure of neural activity, that is not confounded by age-related vascular changes. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate neural responsivity for each individual, namely the capacity to represent visual or semantic information relating to the pictures. We find that the capacity to represent semantic information is linked to higher naming accuracy, a measure of task-specific performance. In mature adults, the capacity to represent semantic information also correlated with higher levels of fluid intelligence, reflecting domain-general performance. In contrast, the latency of visual processing did not relate to measures of cognition. These results indicate that neural responsivity measures relate to naming accuracy and fluid intelligence. We propose that maintaining neural responsivity in older age confers benefits in task-related and domain-general cognitive processes, supporting the brain maintenance view of healthy cognitive ageing.

Masked onset priming effect for high-frequency words: Further support for the speech-planning account

2007 ◽  
Vol 60 (8) ◽  
pp. 1155-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Malouf ◽  
Sachiko Kinoshita
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Mapping Process ◽  
Speech Planning ◽  
Speech Response ◽  
Target Words ◽  
High Frequency Words

Two experiments investigated whether priming due to a match in just the onset between a masked prime and target is found with high-frequency target words. Forster and Davis (1991, Exp. 5) reported that the masked onset priming effect was absent for high-frequency words and used the finding to argue that the effect has its locus in the grapheme–phoneme mapping process that operates serially within the nonlexical route. Experiment 1 used primes that were unrelated to targets and found a masked onset priming effect of equal size for high-frequency and low-frequency target words. Experiment 2 used form-related primes as used by Forster and Davis, and again found that the effect of onset mismatch was not dependent on target word frequency. These results are interpreted in terms of an alternative view that the masked onset priming effect has its origin in the process of preparing a speech response.

Rapid shift in naming efficiency on a rapid automatic naming task by young Spanish-speaking English language learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-872
Author(s):  
Stephanie McMillen ◽  
Linda Jarmulowicz ◽  
Michael M. Mackay ◽  
D. Kimbrough Oller
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
English Language ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Rapid Shift

AbstractThe present study analyzed lexical processing efficiency in Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) and their monolingual English-speaking peers from kindergarten through second grade. Specifically, changes in the patterns of speed and accuracy on a rapid object-naming task were evaluated across languages for the ELL children and across the groups of children. Repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated that ELL children have a rapid shift in language processing efficiency from Spanish to English by the end of kindergarten. Results also showed that by the end of kindergarten ELL children were slightly faster and more accurate in English compared with their monolingual peers. This work provides perspective on how lexical processing is impacted by the development of a dual lexical system. We discuss how lexical density, strength of lexical connections, and environmental constraints may influence this rapid shift in lexical processing efficiency for young Spanish-speaking ELL children.

Using whole-word production measures to determine the influence of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on bilingual speech production

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Skott E. Freedman ◽  
Jessica A. Barlow
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Word Production ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Phonotactic Probability ◽  
Whole Word ◽  
Phonological Complexity

Numerous lexical and sublexical factors have been reported to influence speech production in monolinguals (Storkel, 2001; Vitevitch, 2002); however, whole-word production analyses have rarely been used to measure such influences. The present study investigated the effects of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on bilingual speech production using whole-word production measures (Ingram, 2002). Five typically developing English–Spanish bilingual children were administered a picture-naming task in English and Spanish in which stimuli varied in sublexical and lexical parameters. Their English and Spanish productions were compared with those of five age-matched monolingual English- and Spanish-speaking children, respectively. No differences were found between bilinguals and monolinguals in the respective languages; however, bilinguals evidenced greater phonological complexity in Spanish than English on words with low phonotactic probability and low neighborhood density. Whole-word approximation remained similar between languages. Findings are interpreted in the context of crosslinguistic influences of sublexical and lexical factors on speech production.

Priming and the Effects of Sentence and Lexical Contexts on Naming Time: Evidence for Autonomous Lexical Processing

1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. I. Forster
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Decision Time ◽  
Semantic Integration ◽  
Access Time ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Naming Time ◽  
Inhibitory Effects

Models of language processing which stress the autonomy of processing at each level predict that the semantic properties of an incomplete sentence context should have no influence on lexical processing, either facilitatory or inhibitory. An experiment similar to those reported by Fischler and Bloom (1979) and Stanovich and West (1979, 1981) was conducted using naming time as an index of lexical access time. No facilitatory effects of context were observed for either highly predictable or semantically appropriate (but unpredictable) completions, whereas strong inhibitory effects were obtained for inappropriate completions. When lexical decision time was the dependent measure, the same results were obtained, except that predictable completions now produced strong facilitation. In a further experiment the inhibitory effects of context on lexical decision times for inappropriate targets were maintained, even though unfocussed contexts were used, in which no clear expectancy for a particular completion was involved. These results were interpreted in terms of a two-factor theory which attributes the facilitation observed with the lexical decision task to postaccess decision processes which are not involved in the naming task. The inhibitory effects were attributed to interference resulting from semantic integration. In contrast to the results for sentence contexts, lexical contexts of the doctor-nurse variety produced clear facilitation effects on naming time (but no inhibitory effects). It was also shown that relatively minor variations in the type of neutral context could completely alter the relative importance of facilitation and inhibition.

Inhibitory control processes and lexical access in trilingual speech production

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Schwieter ◽  
Gretchen Sunderman
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
English Language ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Single Experiment ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Switching Performance

This study tests whether or not trilingual language learners rely on inhibitory control (IC) when accessing words during speech production. In particular, it investigates the extent to which second language (L2) and third language (L3) lexical robustness modulates such reliance. English language learners of French and Spanish participated in a picture-naming task containing language switches in all three of their languages. Analyses were conducted on the switching performance of the three languages followed by an exploration of how these effects were modulated by L2 and L3 lexical robustness. The results support reliance on IC for all three languages. Furthermore, the strength of L2 lexical robustness affected performance in all languages whereas the strength of L3 lexical robustness only affected L3 performance. The results suggest that in the context of having to switch between three languages within a single experiment, trilingual speakers rely on IC.

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