scholarly journals Similarity Judgments Predict N400 Amplitude Differences between Taxonomic Category Members and Thematic Associates

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Honke ◽  
Kenneth J. Kurtz ◽  
Sarah Laszlo
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Similarity Judgment ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Taxonomic Category ◽  
Relational Similarity ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Similarity Judgments ◽  
Psychological Similarity

Human similarity judgments do not reliably conform to the predictions of leading theories of psychological similarity. Evidence from the triad similarity judgment task shows that people often identify thematic associates like DOG and BONE as more similar than taxonomic category members like DOG and CAT, even though thematic associates lack the type of featural or relational similarity that is foundational to theories of psychological similarity. This specific failure to predict human behavior has been addressed as a consequence of education and other individual differences, an artifact of the triad similarity judgment paradigm, or a shortcoming in psychological accounts of similarity. We investigated the judged similarity of semantically-related concepts (taxonomic category members and thematic associates) as it relates to other task-independent measures of semantic knowledge and access. Participants were assessed on reading and language ability, then event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected during a passive, sequential word reading task that presented pseudowords and taxonomically-related, thematically-related, and unrelated word sequences, and, finally, similarity judgments were collected with the classic two-alternative forced-choice triad task. The results uncovered a correspondence between ERP amplitude and triad-based similarity judgments---similarity judgment behavior reliably predicts ERP amplitude during passive word reading, absent of any instruction to consider similarity. It was also found that individual differences in reading and language ability independently predicted ERP amplitude. This evidence suggests that similarity judgments are driven by reliable patterns of thought that are not solely rooted in the interpretation of task goals or reading and language ability.

scholarly journals Triangulation of the neurocomputational architecture underpinning reading aloud

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (28) ◽  
pp. E3719-E3728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hoffman ◽  
Matthew A. Lambon Ralph ◽  
Anna M. Woollams
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Reading Aloud ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Causal Modeling ◽  
Neural Pathways

The goal of cognitive neuroscience is to integrate cognitive models with knowledge about underlying neural machinery. This significant challenge was explored in relation to word reading, where sophisticated computational-cognitive models exist but have made limited contact with neural data. Using distortion-corrected functional MRI and dynamic causal modeling, we investigated the interactions between brain regions dedicated to orthographic, semantic, and phonological processing while participants read words aloud. We found that the lateral anterior temporal lobe exhibited increased activation when participants read words with irregular spellings. This area is implicated in semantic processing but has not previously been considered part of the reading network. We also found meaningful individual differences in the activation of this region: Activity was predicted by an independent measure of the degree to which participants use semantic knowledge to read. These characteristics are predicted by the connectionist Triangle Model of reading and indicate a key role for semantic knowledge in reading aloud. Premotor regions associated with phonological processing displayed the reverse characteristics. Changes in the functional connectivity of the reading network during irregular word reading also were consistent with semantic recruitment. These data support the view that reading aloud is underpinned by the joint operation of two neural pathways. They reveal that (i) the ATL is an important element of the ventral semantic pathway and (ii) the division of labor between the two routes varies according to both the properties of the words being read and individual differences in the degree to which participants rely on each route.

Individual differences in empathic processing: An event-related potentials study

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evonne M. Edwards ◽  
John K. Williams ◽  
Todd W. Hall ◽  
Keith J. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Related Potentials

Individual differences predict ERP signatures of second language learning of novel grammatical rules

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S Nichols ◽  
Marc F Joanisse
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
First Language ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Grammatical Rule ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Anterior Negativity

We investigated the extent to which second-language (L2) learning is influenced by the similarity of grammatical features in one’s first language (L1). We used event-related potentials to identify neural signatures of a novel grammatical rule - grammatical gender - in L1 English speakers. Of interest was whether individual differences in L2 proficiency and age of acquisition (AoA) influenced these effects. L2 and native speakers of French read French sentences that were grammatically correct, or contained either a grammatical gender or word order violation. Proficiency and AoA predicted Left Anterior Negativity amplitude, with structure violations driving the proficiency effect and gender violations driving the AoA effect. Proficiency, group, and AoA predicted P600 amplitude for gender violations but not structure violations. Different effects of grammatical gender and structure violations indicate that L2 speakers engage novel grammatical processes differently from L1 speakers and that this varies appreciably based on both AoA and proficiency.

Event-related potentials during Chinese single-character and two-character word reading in children

2019 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 103589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Chor Ming Lo ◽  
Catherine McBride ◽  
Connie Suk-han Ho ◽  
Urs Maurer
Keyword(s):  
Word Reading ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Single Character ◽  
Related Potentials

scholarly journals Past Perspectives and New Opportunities for the Explanatory Item Response Model

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaacov Petscher ◽  
Donald Compton ◽  
Laura M. Steacy ◽  
Hannah Kinnon
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Item Response ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Error Variance ◽  
Item Response Model ◽  
Item Discrimination ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Item Level ◽  
Unique Item

Models of word reading that simultaneously take into account item-level and person-level fixed and random effects are broadly known as explanatory item response models (EIRM). Although many variants of the EIRM are available, the field has generally focused on the doubly explanatory model for modeling individual differences. Moreover, the historical application of the EIRM has been a Rasch version of the model where the item discrimination values are fixed at 1.0 and the random or fixed item effects only pertain to the item difficulties. The statistical literature has advanced to allow for more robust testing of observed or latent outcomes, as well as more flexible parameterizations of the EIRM. The purpose of the present study was to compare the observed and latent Rasch EIRM using commonly used statistical software (R and Mplus) and more broadly compare Rasch and 2PL EIRM when including person-level and item-level predictors. Results showed that not only was the error variance smaller in the unconditional 2PL EIRM compared to the Rasch EIRM due to including the item discrimination random effect, but that patterns of unique item-level explanatory variables difference between the two approaches. Results are interpreted within the context of what each statistical model affords to the opportunity for describing and explaining individual differences in word-level performance.

scholarly journals Individual differences in narrative production in late childhood: Associations with age and fiction reading experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 014272372094655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna G. Hamilton ◽  
Isabelle O’Halloran ◽  
Nicola Cutting
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Production Quality ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Late Childhood ◽  
Reading Experience ◽  
Children's Narratives ◽  
Narrative Production ◽  
Age Range

Narrative production draws upon linguistic, cognitive and pragmatic skills, and is subject to substantial individual differences. This study aimed to characterise the development of narrative production in late childhood and to assess whether children’s cumulative experience of reading fiction is associated with individual differences in narrative language skills. One-hundred-and-twenty-five 9- to 12-year-old children told a story from a wordless picture book, and their narratives were coded for syntactic, semantic and discourse-pragmatic features. The grammatical complexity and propositional content of children’s narratives increased with age between 9 and 12 years, while narrative cohesion, coherence and use of mental state terms were stable across the age range. Measures of fiction reading experience were positively correlated with several indices of narrative production quality and predicted unique variance in narrative macrostructure after controlling for individual differences in vocabulary knowledge, word reading accuracy and theory of mind. These findings are discussed in terms of the continued importance of ‘book language’ as part of the language input beyond early childhood.

Modellen en Metingen Van Taalvaardigheid

1998 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 169-178
Author(s):  
Kees de Glopper ◽  
Anne-Mieke Janssen-van Dieten
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
General Definition ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Reading Models

This article contains a concise discussion of models and measurement of language ability. A general definition of the concept language ability is given, Subsequendy, psycholinguistic models of oral and written language production and comprehension are discussed. The nature and extent of individual differences in language ability are illustrated by means of a discussion of LI reading. Models of language ability are reviewed and areas in need of further research are identified. In conclusion, some tentative answers to pertinent questions on components, development and transfer of language ability are presented.

scholarly journals Erratum to: Improving word reading speed: individual differences interact with a training focus on successes or failures

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 2315-2318
Author(s):  
Esther G. Steenbeek-Planting ◽  
Wim H. J. van Bon ◽  
Robert Schreuder
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Reading Speed
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