An RT distribution analysis of relatedness proportion effects in lexical decision and semantic categorization reveals different mechanisms

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca de Wit ◽  
Sachiko Kinoshita
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Relatedness Proportion

scholarly journals The Omission of Accent Marks Does Not Hinder Word Recognition: Evidence From Spanish

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Marcet ◽  
María Fernández-López ◽  
Melanie Labusch ◽  
Manuel Perea
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Similar Response ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Blocked Design

Recent research has found that the omission of accent marks in Spanish does not produce slower word identification times in go/no-go lexical decision and semantic categorization tasks [e.g., cárcel (prison) = carcel], thus suggesting that vowels like á and a are represented by the same orthographic units during word recognition and reading. However, there is a discrepant finding with the yes/no lexical decision task, where the words with the omitted accent mark produced longer response times than the words with the accent mark. In Experiment 1, we examined this discrepant finding by running a yes/no lexical decision experiment comparing the effects for words and non-words. Results showed slower response times for the words with omitted accent mark than for those with the accent mark present (e.g., cárcel < carcel). Critically, we found the opposite pattern for non-words: response times were longer for the non-words with accent marks (e.g., cárdil > cardil), thus suggesting a bias toward a “word” response for accented items in the yes/no lexical decision task. To test this interpretation, Experiment 2 used the same stimuli with a blocked design (i.e., accent mark present vs. omitted in all items) and a go/no-go lexical decision task (i.e., respond only to “words”). Results showed similar response times to words regardless of whether the accent mark was omitted (e.g., cárcel = carcel). This pattern strongly suggests that the longer response times to words with an omitted accent mark in yes/no lexical decision experiments are a task-dependent effect rather than a genuine reading cost.

L2-L1 noncognate masked translation priming as a task-specific phenomenon

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Mark J. McPhedran ◽  
Stephen J. Lupker
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Machine Learning Approach ◽  
Listening Proficiency ◽  
Task Differences ◽  
Masked Translation Priming

Abstract The masked translation priming effect was examined in Chinese–English bilinguals using lexical decision and semantic categorization tasks in an effort to understand why the two tasks seem to produce different patterns of results. A machine-learning approach was used to assess the participant-based factors that contribute to the sizes of translation priming effects in these tasks. As expected, the participant-based factors that predicted translation priming effects did vary across tasks. Priming effects in lexical decision were associated with higher self-rated listening, reading, and writing abilities in English. Priming effects in semantic categorization were associated with more frequent use of English in daily life, spoken English proficiency, and self-rated listening proficiency in English. These results are discussed within the framework of Multilink, the logic of which is then expanded in an attempt to account for these task differences.

Quantifying semantic animacy: How much are words alive?

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1477-1499 ◽  
Author(s):  
JELENA RADANOVIĆ ◽  
CHRIS WESTBURY ◽  
PETAR MILIN
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Cognitive Effects ◽  
Property A ◽  
Behavioral Correlates ◽  
Underlying Distribution ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Decision Times ◽  
Category Decision

ABSTRACTThe main goal of this study, which comprised two experimental tasks and three normative studies, was to describe the underlying distribution of semantic animacy, with the focus on Serbian and English. Animacy was measured using three normative techniques. The cognitive effects of obtained measures were tested in two experiments conducted in both Serbian and English: a visual lexical decision task and a semantic categorization task. Results suggest that semantic animacy is a graded property. A high correlation between Serbian and English measures suggests that semantic animacy might be language independent, most likely because of its biological grounding. As for its behavioral correlates, animacy does not affect lexical decision times but it does codetermine the categorization speed: the category decision gradually slows as a function of the degree of animacy. These results were consistent across two languages under research scrutiny. We thus conclude that animacy is a continuous aspect of meaning.

Connecting the research fields of lexical ambiguity and figures of speech

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadet Jager ◽  
Alexandra A. Cleland
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Categorization Task ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Figures Of Speech ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Processing And Storage ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
And Storage

The current studies investigated the processing and storage of lexical metaphors and metonyms by combining two existing methodologies from ambiguity research: counting the number of senses (as in e.g., Rodd, Gaskell, & Marslen-Wilson, 2002) and determining the relationship between those senses (as in e.g., Klepousniotou & Baum, 2007). We have called these two types of ambiguity ‘numerical polysemy’ and ‘relational polysemy’. Studies employing a lexical decision task (Experiment 1) and semantic categorization task (Experiment 2) compared processing of metaphorical and non-metaphorical words while controlling for number of senses. The effects of relational polysemy were investigated in more detail with a further lexical decision study (Experiment 3). Results showed a metaphor advantage and metonymy disadvantage which conflict with earlier findings of reverse patterns (e.g., Klepousniotou & Baum, 2007). The fact that both conventional lexical metaphors and metonyms can incur either processing advantages or disadvantages strongly suggests they are not inherently stored differently in the mental lexicon.

scholarly journals Getting a Grip on Sensorimotor Effects in Lexical-Semantic Processing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Heard ◽  
Christopher R Madan ◽  
Andrea Protzner ◽  
Penny M. Pexman
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Object Interaction ◽  
Sensorimotor Information ◽  
Theoretical Import

One of the strategies that researchers have used to investigate the role of sensorimotor information in lexical-semantic processing is to examine effects of words’ rated body-object interaction (BOI; the ease with which the human body can interact with a word’s referent). Processing tends to be facilitated for words with high BOI compared to words with low BOI, across a wide variety of tasks. Such effects have been referenced in debates over the nature of semantic representations, but their theoretical import has been limited by the fact that BOI is a fairly coarse measure of sensorimotor experience with words’ referents. In the present study we collected ratings for 621 words on seven semantic dimensions (graspability, ease of pantomime, number of actions, animacy, size, danger, and usefulness) in order to investigate which attributes are most strongly related to BOI ratings, and to lexical-semantic processing. BOI ratings were obtained from previous norming studies (Bennett, Burnett, Siakaluk, & Pexman, 2011; Tillotson, Siakaluk, & Pexman, 2008) and measures of lexical-semantic processing were obtained from previous behavioural megastudies involving the semantic categorization task (concrete/abstract decision; Pexman, Heard, Lloyd, & Yap, 2017) and the lexical decision task (Balota et al., 2007). Results showed that the motor dimension of graspability, ease of pantomime, and number of actions were all related to BOI and that these dimensions together explained more variance in semantic processing than did BOI ratings alone. These ratings will be useful for researchers who wish to study how different kinds of bodily interactions influence lexical-semantic processing and cognition.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document