Internet-based language production research with overt articulation: Proof of concept, challenges, and practical advice

AbstractLanguage production experiments with overt articulation have thus far only scarcely been conducted online, mostly due to technical difficulties related to measuring voice onset latencies. Especially the poor audiovisual synchrony in web experiments (Bridges et al. 2020) is a challenge to time-locking stimuli and participants’ spoken responses. We tested the viability of conducting language production experiments with overt articulation in online settings using the picture–word interference paradigm – a classic task in language production research. In three pre-registered experiments (N = 48 each), participants named object pictures while ignoring visually superimposed distractor words. We implemented a custom voice recording option in two different web experiment builders and recorded naming responses in audio files. From these stimulus-locked audio files, we extracted voice onset latencies offline. In a control task, participants classified the last letter of a picture name as a vowel or consonant via button-press, a task that shows comparable semantic interference effects. We expected slower responses when picture and distractor word were semantically related compared to unrelated, independently of task. This semantic interference effect is robust, but relatively small. It should therefore crucially depend on precise timing. We replicated this effect in an online setting, both for button-press and overt naming responses, providing a proof of concept that naming latency – a key dependent variable in language production research – can be reliably measured in online experiments. We discuss challenges for online language production research and suggestions of how to overcome them. The scripts for the online implementation are made available.

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Internet based language production research with overt articulation: Proof of concept, challenges, and practical advice

10.31234/osf.io/cyvwf ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anne Vogt ◽

Roger Christoph Hauber ◽

Anna K. Kuhlen ◽

Rasha Abdel Rahman

Keyword(s):

Language Production ◽

Naming Latency ◽

Button Press ◽

Distractor Word ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Semantic Interference ◽

Online Implementation ◽

Production Research ◽

Audio Files ◽

Web Experiment

Language production experiments with overt articulation have thus far only scarcely been conducted online, mostly due to technical difficulties related to measuring voice onset latencies. Especially the poor audiovisual synchrony in web experiments (Bridges et al., 2020) is a challenge to time-locking stimuli and participants’ spoken responses. We tested the viability of conducting language production experiments with overt articulation in online settings using the picture-word interference paradigm – a classic task in language production research. In three pre-registered experiments (N=48 each), participants named object pictures while ignoring visually superimposed distractor words. We implemented a custom voice recording option in two different web experiment builders and recorded naming responses in audio files. From these stimulus-locked audio files we extracted voice onset latencies offline. In a control task, participants classified the last letter of a picture name as a vowel or consonant via button-press, a task that shows comparable semantic interference effects. We expected slower responses when picture and distractor word were semantically related compared to unrelated, independently of task. This semantic interference effect is robust, but relatively small. It should therefore crucially depend on precise timing. We replicated this effect in an online setting, both for button-press and overt naming responses, providing a proof of concept that naming latency - a key dependent variable in language production research - can be reliably measured in online experiments. We discuss challenges for online language production research and suggestions how to overcome them. The scripts for the online implementation are made available.

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Joint language production: an electrophysiological investigation of simulated lexical access on behalf of task partner

10.1101/2020.09.18.303099 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Anna K. Kuhlen ◽

Rasha Abdel Rahman

Keyword(s):

Lexical Access ◽

Joint Action ◽

Picture Naming ◽

Language Production ◽

Naming Latency ◽

Semantic Category ◽

Electrophysiological Investigation ◽

Semantic Interference ◽

Naming Response ◽

Naming Latencies

AbstractThis study investigates in a joint action setting a well-established effect in speech production, cumulative semantic interference, an increase in naming latencies when naming a series of semantically related pictures. In a joint action setting, two task partners take turns naming pictures. Previous work in this setting demonstrated that naming latencies increase not only with each semantically related picture speakers named themselves, but also with each picture named by the partner (Hoedemaker, Ernst, Meyer, & Belke, 2017; Kuhlen & Abdel Rahman, 2017). This suggests that speakers pursue lexical access on behalf of their partner. In two electrophysiological experiments (N=30 each) we investigated the neuro-cognitive signatures of such simulated lexical access. As expected, in both experiments speakers’ naming latency increased with successive naming instances within a given semantic category. Correspondingly, speakers’ EEG showed an increasing posterior positivity between 250-400ms, an ERP modulation typically associated with lexical access. However, unlike previous experiments, speakers were not influenced by their partner’s picture naming. Accordingly, we found no electrophysiological evidence of lexical access on behalf of the partner. We conclude that speakers do not always represent their partner’s naming response and discuss possible factors that may have limited the participants’ evaluation of the task as a joint action.

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

Reading and Writing ◽

10.1007/s11145-021-10173-2 ◽

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.

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THE RETRIEVABILITY OF L2 ENGLISH MULTIWORD ITEMS IN A CONTEXT OF STRONGLY FORM-FOCUSED EXPOSURE

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263120000315 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-28

Author(s):

Seth Lindstromberg ◽

June Eyckmans

Keyword(s):

Experimental Study ◽

Language Production ◽

Mental Representations ◽

Vocabulary Learning ◽

Semantic Variable ◽

Strong Focus ◽

Production Research ◽

L2 Vocabulary ◽

Focus On Forms ◽

Positive Effect

Although retrieval of lexical forms is a prerequisite for language production, research of L2 vocabulary learning has focused much more on meanings and form-meaning mappings than on development of detailed, accessible mental representations of forms. This is particularly true with respect to multi-word items (MWIs). We report an experimental study involving a variety of intra-lexical, usage-based, and interlingual co-determinants of L2 vocabulary learnability pertaining to MWIs. Each learner (N = 60) encountered a randomly allocated set of 26 two-word MWIs (Nsets = 4) semi-randomly drawn from a larger pool of MWIs. Learners were asked to remember either the 13 MWIs showing the form variable assonance (e.g., change shape) or the 13 nonassonant control MWIs (e.g., sound good). Posttests of form recall revealed a large, durable effect of the focusing task in combination with forewarning of testing. Except when MWI concreteness (a semantic variable) was high, assonance had a positive effect on retrievability in recall tests given after delays of 15 minutes and one week. There was a consistent effect of the semi-semantic variable Mutual Information. Even in the context of a strong focus on forms, form variables are not the only variables that matter.

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Semantic facilitation and semantic interference in language production: Further evidence for the conceptual selection model of lexical access

Journal of Memory and Language ◽

10.1016/j.jml.2004.05.001 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 307-323 ◽

Cited By ~ 80

Author(s):

Ineke Bloem ◽

Sylvia van den Boogaard ◽

Wido La Heij

Keyword(s):

Lexical Access ◽

Language Production ◽

Selection Model ◽

Semantic Interference

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Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation over the left posterior superior temporal gyrus on picture-word interference

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0242941 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. e0242941

Author(s):

Vitória Piai ◽

Laura Nieberlein ◽

Gesa Hartwigsen

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Language Production ◽

Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽

Word Production ◽

Brain State ◽

Semantic Interference ◽

Interference Task

Word-production theories argue that during language production, a concept activates multiple lexical candidates in left temporal cortex, and the intended word is selected from this set. Evidence for theories on spoken-word production comes, for example, from the picture-word interference task, where participants name pictures superimposed by congruent (e.g., picture: rabbit, distractor “rabbit”), categorically related (e.g., distractor “sheep”), or unrelated (e.g., distractor “fork”) words. Typically, whereas congruent distractors facilitate naming, related distractors slow down picture naming relative to unrelated distractors, resulting in semantic interference. However, the neural correlates of semantic interference are debated. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that the left mid-to-posterior STG (pSTG) is involved in the interference associated with semantically related distractors. To probe the functional relevance of this area, we targeted the left pSTG with focal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) while subjects performed a picture-word interference task. Unexpectedly, pSTG stimulation did not affect the semantic interference effect but selectively increased the congruency effect (i.e., faster naming with congruent distractors). The facilitatory TMS effect selectively occurred in the more difficult list with an overall lower name agreement. Our study adds new evidence to the causal role of the left pSTG in the interaction between picture and distractor representations or processing streams, only partly supporting previous neuroimaging studies. Moreover, the observed unexpected condition-specific facilitatory rTMS effect argues for an interaction of the task- or stimulus-induced brain state with the modulatory TMS effect. These issues should be systematically addressed in future rTMS studies on language production.

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Connectionist Principles in Theories of Speech Production

The Oxford Handbook of Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198786825.013.16 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 371-397

Author(s):

Laurel Brehm ◽

Matthew Goldrick

Keyword(s):

Speech Production ◽

Language Production ◽

Spreading Activation ◽

Syntactic Priming ◽

Semantic Interference ◽

Connectionist Models ◽

Distributed Representations ◽

Sequencing Errors ◽

Connectionist Modeling ◽

Principles Of Learning

This chapter focuses on connectionist modeling in language production, highlighting how core principles of connectionism provide coverage for empirical observations about representation and selection at the phonological, lexical, and sentence levels. The first section focuses on the connectionist principles of localist representations and spreading activation. It discusses how these two principles have motivated classic models of speech production and shows how they cover results of the picture-word interference paradigm, the mixed error effect, and aphasic naming errors. The second section focuses on how newer connectionist models incorporate the principles of learning and distributed representations through discussion of syntactic priming, cumulative semantic interference, sequencing errors, phonological blends, and code-switching.

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The Shape of Things to Come in Speech Production: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Visual Form Interference during Lexical Access

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01382 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 913-921 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hanna S. Gauvin ◽

Katie L. McMahon ◽

Marcus Meinzer ◽

Greig I. de Zubicaray

Keyword(s):

Speech Production ◽

Language Production ◽

Context Effects ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Imaging Study ◽

Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽

Distractor Word ◽

Lexical Selection ◽

Middle Temporal ◽

Visual Form

Studies of context effects in speech production have shown that semantic feature overlap produces interference in naming of categorically related objects. In neuroimaging studies, this semantic interference effect is consistently associated with involvement of left superior and middle temporal gyri. However, at least part of this effect has recently been shown to be attributable to visual form similarity, as categorically related objects typically share visual features. This fMRI study examined interference produced by visual form overlap in the absence of a category relation in a picture–word interference paradigm. Both visually similar and visually dissimilar distractors led to increased BOLD responses in the left inferior frontal gyrus compared with the congruent condition. Naming pictures in context with a distractor word denoting an object visually similar in form slowed RTs compared with unrelated words and was associated with reduced activity in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus. This area is reliably observed in lexical level processing during language production tasks. No significant differential activity was observed in areas typically engaged by early perceptual or conceptual feature level processing or in areas proposed to be engaged by postlexical language processes, suggesting that visual form interference does not arise from uncertainty or confusion during perceptual or conceptual identification or after lexical processing. We conclude that visual form interference has a lexical locus, consistent with the predictions of competitive lexical selection models.

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