scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Visual versus Abstract Letter Processing in Roman and Arabic Scripts

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1975-1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Carreiras ◽  
Manuel Perea ◽  
Cristina Gil-López ◽  
Reem Abu Mallouh ◽  
Elena Salillas
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Letter Identification ◽  
Visual Form ◽  
Roman Alphabet ◽  
Letter Processing ◽  
Critical Process ◽  
Prime Target

In alphabetic orthographies, letter identification is a critical process during the recognition of visually presented words. In the present experiment, we examined whether and when visual form influences letter processing in two very distinct alphabets (Roman and Arabic). Disentangling visual versus abstract letter representations was possible because letters in the Roman alphabet may look visually similar/dissimilar in lowercase and uppercase forms (e.g., c-C vs. r-R) and letters in the Arabic alphabet may look visually similar/dissimilar, depending on their position within a word (e.g., [Formula: see text] - [Formula: see text] vs. [Formula: see text] - [Formula: see text]). We employed a masked priming same–different matching task while ERPs were measured from individuals who had learned the two alphabets at an early age. Results revealed a prime–target relatedness effect dependent on visual form in early components (P/N150) and a more abstract relatedness effect in a later component (P300). Importantly, the pattern of data was remarkably similar in the two alphabets. Thus, these data offer empirical support for a universal (i.e., across alphabets) hierarchical account of letter processing in which the time course of letter processing in different scripts follows a similar trajectory from visual features to visual form independent of abstract representations.

scholarly journals Evidence for Early Morphological Decomposition: Combining Masked Priming with Magnetoencephalography

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 3366-3379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Lehtonen ◽  
Philip J. Monahan ◽  
David Poeppel
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Morphological Decomposition ◽  
Lexical Representations ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Prime Target

Are words stored as morphologically structured representations? If so, when during word recognition are morphological pieces accessed? Recent masked priming studies support models that assume early decomposition of (potentially) morphologically complex words. The electrophysiological evidence, however, is inconsistent. We combined masked morphological priming with magneto-encephalography (MEG), a technique particularly adept at indexing processes involved in lexical access. The latency of an MEG component peaking, on average, 220 msec post-onset of the target in left occipito-temporal brain regions was found to be sensitive to the morphological prime–target relationship under masked priming conditions in a visual lexical decision task. Shorter latencies for related than unrelated conditions were observed both for semantically transparent (cleaner–CLEAN) and opaque (corner–CORN) prime–target pairs, but not for prime–target pairs with only an orthographic relationship (brothel–BROTH). These effects are likely to reflect a prelexical level of processing where form-based representations of stems and affixes are represented and are in contrast to models positing no morphological structure in lexical representations. Moreover, we present data regarding the transitional probability from stem to affix in a post hoc comparison, which suggests that this factor may modulate early morphological decomposition, particularly for opaque words. The timing of a robust MEG component sensitive to the morphological relatedness of prime–target pairs can be used to further understand the neural substrates and the time course of lexical processing.

What Is Shaping RT and Accuracy Distributions? Active and Selective Response Inhibition Causes the Negative Compatibility Effect

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1651-1671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Panis ◽  
Thomas Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Compatibility Effect ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Selective Inhibition ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Hazard Functions ◽  
Negative Compatibility Effect ◽  
Priming Paradigm ◽  
Prime Target

Inhibitory control such as active selective response inhibition is currently a major topic in cognitive neuroscience. Here we analyze the shape of behavioral RT and accuracy distributions in a visual masked priming paradigm. We employ discrete time hazard functions of response occurrence and conditional accuracy functions to study what causes the negative compatibility effect (NCE)—faster responses and less errors in inconsistent than in consistent prime target conditions—during the time course of a trial. Experiment 1 compares different mask types to find out whether response-relevant mask features are necessary for the NCE. After ruling out this explanation, Experiment 2 manipulates prime mask and mask target intervals to find out whether the NCE is time-locked to the prime or to the mask. We find that (a) response conflicts in inconsistent prime target conditions are locked to target onset, (b) positive priming effects are locked to prime onset whereas the NCE is locked to mask onset, (c) active response inhibition is selective for the primed response, and (d) the type of mask has only modulating effects. We conclude that the NCE is neither caused by automatic self-inhibition of the primed response due to backward masking nor by updating response-relevant features of the mask, but by active mask-triggered selective inhibition of the primed response. We discuss our results in light of a recent computational model of the role of the BG in response gating and executive control.

scholarly journals The time course of morphological processing in a second language

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Clahsen ◽  
Loay Balkhair ◽  
John-Sebastian Schutter ◽  
Ian Cunnings
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Movement Data ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Complex Words

We report findings from psycholinguistic experiments investigating the detailed timing of processing morphologically complex words by proficient adult second (L2) language learners of English in comparison to adult native (L1) speakers of English. The first study employed the masked priming technique to investigate - ed forms with a group of advanced Arabic-speaking learners of English. The results replicate previously found L1/L2 differences in morphological priming, even though in the present experiment an extra temporal delay was offered after the presentation of the prime words. The second study examined the timing of constraints against inflected forms inside derived words in English using the eye-movement monitoring technique and an additional acceptability judgment task with highly advanced Dutch L2 learners of English in comparison to adult L1 English controls. Whilst offline the L2 learners performed native-like, the eye-movement data showed that their online processing was not affected by the morphological constraint against regular plurals inside derived words in the same way as in native speakers. Taken together, these findings indicate that L2 learners are not just slower than native speakers in processing morphologically complex words, but that the L2 comprehension system employs real-time grammatical analysis (in this case, morphological information) less than the L1 system.

scholarly journals On the time course of letter perception: A masked priming ERP investigation

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 674-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Petit ◽  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Jonathan Grainger
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Letter Perception

Semantic transparency affects morphological priming . . . eventually

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1112-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Heyer ◽  
Dana Kornishova
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Psycholinguistic Research ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Morphological Priming ◽  
Complex Words

Semantic transparency has been in the focus of psycholinguistic research for decades, with the controversy about the time course of the application of morpho-semantic information during the processing of morphologically complex words not yet resolved. This study reports two masked priming studies with English - ness and Russian - ost’ nominalisations, investigating how semantic transparency modulates native speakers’ morphological priming effects at short and long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In both languages, we found increased morphological priming for nominalisations at the transparent end of the scale (e.g. paleness – pale) in comparison to items at the opaque end of the scale (e.g. business – busy) but only at longer prime durations. The present findings are in line with models that posit an initial phase of morpho-orthographic (semantically blind) decomposition.

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.

The Time Course of Visual Letter Perception

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1645-1655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Madec ◽  
Arnaud Rey ◽  
Stéphane Dufau ◽  
Michael Klein ◽  
Jonathan Grainger
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Behavioral Measure ◽  
Letter Identification ◽  
Letter Perception ◽  
Visual Identification ◽  
Feature Processing ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Identification Processes

We describe a novel method for tracking the time course of visual identification processes, here applied to the specific case of letter perception. We combine a new behavioral measure of letter identification times with single-letter ERP recordings. Letter identification processes are considered to take place in those time windows in which the behavioral measure and ERPs are correlated. A first significant correlation was found at occipital electrode sites around 100 msec poststimulus onset that most likely reflects the contribution of low-level feature processing to letter identification. It was followed by a significant correlation at fronto-central sites around 170 msec, which we take to reflect letter-specific identification processes, including retrieval of a phonological code corresponding to the letter name. Finally, significant correlations were obtained around 220 msec at occipital electrode sites that may well be due to the kind of recurrent processing that has been revealed recently by TMS studies. Overall, these results suggest that visual identification processes are likely to be composed of a first (and probably preconscious) burst of visual information processing followed by a second reentrant processing on visual areas that could be critical for the conscious identification of the visual target.

scholarly journals The Time Course of Orthography and Phonology: ERP Correlates of Masked Priming Effects in Spanish

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Vergara-Martinez ◽  
Manuel Carreiras ◽  
Manuel Perea ◽  
Alexander Pollatsek
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Priming Effects
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