scholarly journals Hearing "Birch" Hampers Saying "Duck" – An ERP Study on Phonological Interference in Immediate and Delayed Word Production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Mädebach ◽  
Andreas Widmann ◽  
Melina Posch ◽  
Erich Schröger ◽  
Jörg D. Jescheniak
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Interference Effect ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Word Production ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Distractor Word ◽  
Processing Level ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
Phonological Interference

When speakers name a picture (e.g., “duck”), a distractor word phonologically related to an alternative name (e.g., “birch” related to “bird”) slows down naming responses compared to an unrelated distractor word. This interference effect obtained with the picture-word interference (PWI) task is assumed to reflect the phonological co-activation of close semantic competitors and is critical for evaluating contemporary models of word production. In the present study, we determined the event-related brain potential (ERP) signature of this effect in an immediate and a delayed version of the PWI task. ERPs revealed a differential processing of related and unrelated distractors: an early (305 – 436 ms) and a late (537 – 713 ms) negativity for related as compared with unrelated distractors. In the behavioral data, the interference effect was only found in immediate naming, while its ERP signature was also present in delayed naming. The time window of the earlier ERP effect suggests that the behavioral interference effect indeed emerges at a phonological processing level, while the functional significance of the later ERP effect is as yet not clear. The finding of a robust ERP correlate of phonological co-activation might facilitate future research on lexical processing in word production.

scholarly journals Effects of orthography in the picture-word task: Evidence from Japanese scripts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra S. Dylman ◽  
Mariko Kikutani ◽  
Miho Sasaki ◽  
Christopher Barry
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Interference Effect ◽  
Distractor Word ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Lexical Selection ◽  
Semantic Interference ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Word Combination ◽  
Word Task ◽  
Different Populations

AbstractThe picture-word task presents participants with a number of pictured objects together with a written distractor word superimposed upon each picture, and their task is to name the depicted object while ignoring the distractor word. Depending on the specific picture and word combination, various effects, including the identity facilitation effect (e.g., DOG + dog) and the semantic interference effect (e.g., GOAT + cow), are often observed. The response patterns of the picture-word task in terms of naming latencies reflect the mechanisms underlying lexical selection in speech production. Research using this method, however, has typically focused on alphabetic languages, or involved bilingual populations, making it difficult to specifically investigate orthographic effects in isolation. In this paper, we report five experiments investigating the role of orthography in the picture-word task by varying distractor script (using the multiscriptal language Japanese, and pseudohomophonic spellings in English) across three different populations (Japanese monolinguals, Japanese-English bilinguals, and English monolinguals), investigating both the identity facilitation effect and the semantic interference effect. The results generally show that the magnitude of facilitation is affected by orthography even within a single language. The findings and specific patterns of results are discussed in relation to current theories on speech production.

scholarly journals N170 reflects visual familiarity and automatic sublexical phonological access in L2 written word processing

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yen Na Yum ◽  
Sam-Po Law
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Repetition Detection ◽  
Korean Chinese ◽  
Written Word ◽  
Bilingual Readers

Abstract The literature has mixed reports on whether the N170, an early visual ERP response to words, signifies orthographic and/or phonological processing, and whether these effects are moderated by script and language expertise. In this study, native Chinese readers, Japanese–Chinese, and Korean–Chinese bilingual readers performed a one-back repetition detection task with single Chinese characters that differed in phonological regularity status. Results using linear mixed effects models showed that Korean–Chinese readers had bilateral N170 response, while native Chinese and Japanese–Chinese groups had left-lateralized N170, with stronger left lateralization in native Chinese than Japanese–Chinese readers. Additionally, across groups, irregular characters had bilateral increase in N170 amplitudes compared to regular characters. These results suggested that visual familiarity to a script rather than orthography-phonology mapping determined the left lateralization of the N170 response, while there was automatic access to sublexical phonology in the N170 time window in native and non-native readers alike.

scholarly journals Relative index of ankle muscle activations on agonistic phase between subjects with and without flat foot

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Sung
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Medial Gastrocnemius ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Flat Foot ◽  
Relative Index ◽  
Ankle Motion ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
Relative Activation ◽  
Ankle Muscle

Background: Although co-activation of ankle muscles has been reported, relative ankle muscle activation in subjects with flat foot has not been carefully investigated. The aim of this study was to compare the relative activation index (RAI) on the tibialis anterior (TA) and medial gastrocnemius (GTN) muscles during active ankle range of motion (ROM) between subjects with and without flat foot. Methods: There were 17 subjects with flat foot and 17 age- and gender-matched control subjects who participated in this study. The RAI based on electromyography (EMG) was measured during the agonist phase at a controlled velocity of ankle motion (10°/second). The subject was seated upright with the tested foot held firmly onto a footplate that was attached to a torque sensor. The ankle being measured was strapped to the leg support of the Intel stretch device at 60° of knee flexion. The RAI was analyzed by the summation of EMG activity from the agonistic time window divided by the total EMG activity during full active ankle ROM. Results: The RAI was significantly different on the TA muscle (t = 3.08, P = 0.004), but no difference was found on the GTN muscle (t = -1.24, P = 0.23) in subjects with flat foot. There was an interaction between group and RAI (F =7.89, P = 0.007); however, the RAI demonstrated no interaction with age (F = 2.59, P = 0.14), height (F = 3.73, P = 0.06), or weight (F = 2.96, P = 0.09). Conclusions: The RAI indicated a lack of TA muscle activation in the flat foot group. Such dissociated activation in the flat foot group might be relevant to the inefficiency of synergistic motions. The relative activation of the agonistic phase needs to be further investigated to compare co-activation of synergistic muscle activation with various functional tasks. 

Voice Onset Time in Consonant Cluster Errors: Can Phonetic Accommodation Differentiate Cognitive From Motor Errors?

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 1577-1588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Pouplier ◽  
Stefania Marin ◽  
Susanne Waltl
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Spectral Properties ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Processing Level ◽  
Production Models ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Phonetic accommodation in speech errors has traditionally been used to identify the processing level at which an error has occurred. Recent studies have challenged the view that noncanonical productions may solely be due to phonetic, not phonological, processing irregularities, as previously assumed. The authors of the present study investigated the relationship between phonological and phonetic planning processes on the basis of voice onset time (VOT) behavior in consonant cluster errors. Method Acoustic data from 22 German speakers were recorded while eliciting errors on sibilant-stop clusters. Analyses consider VOT duration as well as intensity and spectral properties of the sibilant. Results Of all incorrect responses, 28% failed to show accommodation. Sibilant intensity and spectral properties differed from correct responses irrespective of whether VOT was accommodated. Conclusions The data overall do not allow using (a lack of) accommodation as a diagnostic as to the processing level at which an error has occurred. The data support speech production models that allow for an integrated view of phonological and phonetic processing.

scholarly journals Lexical processing deficits in children with developmental language disorder: An event-related potentials study

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 459-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey A. Kornilov ◽  
James S. Magnuson ◽  
Natalia Rakhlin ◽  
Nicole Landi ◽  
Elena L. Grigorenko
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Functional Independence ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Compensatory Mechanisms ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Processing Deficits

AbstractLexical processing deficits in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have been postulated to arise as sequelae of their grammatical deficits (either directly or via compensatory mechanisms) and vice versa. We examined event-related potential indices of lexical processing in children with DLD (n= 23) and their typically developing peers (n= 16) using a picture–word matching paradigm. We found that children with DLD showed markedly reduced N400 amplitudes in response both to auditorily presented words that had initial phonological overlap with the name of the pictured object and to words that were not semantically or phonologically related to the pictured object. Moreover, this reduction was related to behavioral indices of phonological and lexical but not grammatical development. We also found that children with DLD showed a depressed phonological mapping negativity component in the early time window, suggesting deficits in phonological processing or early lexical access. The results are partially consistent with the overactivation account of lexical processing deficits in DLD and point to the relative functional independence of lexical/phonological and grammatical deficits in DLD, supporting a multidimensional view of the disorder. The results also, although indirectly, support the neuroplasticity account of DLD, according to which language impairment affects brain development and shapes the specific patterns of brain responses to language stimuli.

scholarly journals ERP Correlates of Word Production before and after Stroke in an Aphasic Patient

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 374-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Laganaro ◽  
Stéphanie Morand ◽  
Christoph M. Michel ◽  
Laurent Spinelli ◽  
Armin Schnider
Keyword(s):  
Picture Naming ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Word Production ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Aphasic Patient

Changes in brain activity characterizing impaired speech production after brain damage have usually been investigated by comparing aphasic speakers with healthy subjects because prestroke data are normally not available. However, when interpreting the results of studies of stroke patients versus healthy controls, there is an inherent difficulty in disentangling the contribution of neuropathology from other sources of between-subject variability. In the present work, we had an unusual opportunity to study an aphasic patient with severe anomia who had incidentally performed a picture naming task in an ERP study as a control subject one year before suffering a left hemisphere stroke. The fortuitous recording of this patient's brain activity before his stroke allows direct comparison of his pre- and poststroke brain activity in the same language production task. The subject did not differ from other healthy subjects before his stroke, but presented major electrophysiological differences after stroke, both in comparison to himself before stroke and to the control group. ERP changes consistently appeared after stroke in a specific time window starting about 250 msec after picture onset, characterized by a single divergent but stable topographic configuration of the scalp electric field associated with a cortical generator abnormally limited to left temporal posterior perilesional areas. The patient's pattern of anomia revealed a severe lexical–phonological impairment and his ERP responses diverged from those of healthy controls in the time window that has previously been associated with lexical–phonological processes during picture naming. Given that his prestroke ERPs were indistinguishable from those of healthy controls, it seems highly likely that the change in his poststroke ERPs is due to changes in language production processes as a consequence of stroke. The patient's neurolinguistic deficits, combined with the ERPs results, provide unique evidence for the role of left temporal cortex in lexical–phonological processing from about 250 to 450 msec during word production.

Morphological Units: A Theoretical and Psycholinguistic Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominiek Sandra
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Relational Information ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Processing Level ◽  
Communicative Efficiency ◽  
Complex Words

Speakers can transfer meanings to each other because they represent them in a perceptible form. Phonology and syntactic structure are two levels of linguistic form. Morphemes are situated in-between them. Like phonemes they have a phonological component, and like syntactic structures they carry relational information. A distinction can be made between inflectional and lexical morphology. Both are devices in the service of communicative efficiency, by highlighting grammatical and semantic relations, respectively. Morphological structure has also been studied in psycholinguistics, especially by researchers who are interested in the process of visual word recognition. They found that a word is recognized more easily when it belongs to a large morphological family, which suggests that the mental lexicon is structured along morphological lines. The semantic transparency of a word’s morphological structure plays an important role. Several findings also suggest that morphology plays an important role at a pre-lexical processing level as well. It seems that morphologically complex words are subjected to a process of blind morphological decomposition before lexical access is attempted.

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