BALANCE OF MEANING PROBABILITIES IN PROCESSING OF SERBIAN HOMONYMY

The research deals with the set of Serbian homonymous nouns (nouns with multiple unrelated meanings) presented in the norming study and in the visual lexical decision task experiment. Native speakers listed the meanings of homonymous words and provided word familiarity and word concreteness ratings. Accordingly, the first database of Serbian homonyms was constructed containing subjective meanings of homonymous nouns along with the estimated meaning probabilities, as well as a number of meanings, redundancy and entropy of the distribution of meaning probabilities, word familiarity and word concreteness. The processing disadvantage of homonymous nouns over unambiguous nouns was replicated in the visual lexical decision task. Additionally, the processing of homonymous nouns was linked with redundancy: the information theory measure of the balance of meaning probabilities. The results revealed that homonyms with higher redundancy of the meaning probability distribution (i.e., unbalanced meaning probabilities) were processed faster. This finding was in accordance with the hypothesis derived from the Semantic Settling Dynamics account of the processing of ambiguous words, according to which the competition among the unrelated meanings derived the processing disadvantage in homonymy. However, the same pattern was not observed for the number of meanings and entropy, inviting for further research of the processing of ambiguous words.

Feature distinctiveness effects in language acquisition and lexical processing: Insights from megastudies

Semantic features are central to many influential theories of word meaning and semantic memory, but new methods of quantifying the information embedded in feature production norms are needed to advance our understanding of semantic processing and language acquisition. This paper capitalized on databases of semantic feature production norms and age-of-acquisition ratings, and megastudies including the English Lexicon Project and the Calgary Semantic Decision Project, to examine the influence of feature distinctiveness on language acquisition, visual lexical decision, and semantic decision. A feature network of English words was constructed such that edges in the network represented feature distance, or dissimilarity, between words (i.e., Jaccard and Manhattan distances of probability distributions of features elicited for each pair of words), enabling us to quantify the relative feature distinctiveness of individual words relative to other words in the network. Words with greater feature distinctiveness tended to be acquired earlier. Regression analyses of megastudy data revealed that Manhattan feature distinctiveness inhibited performance on the visual lexical decision task, facilitated semantic decision performance for concrete concepts, and inhibited semantic decision performance for abstract concepts. These results demonstrate the importance of considering the structural properties of words embedded in a semantic feature space in order to increase our understanding of semantic processing and language acquisition.

Effects of the relationships between forms within and across paradigms on lexical processing and representation

The frequency and distribution of forms within a lexeme’s paradigm affect how quickly forms are accessed (e.g., Kostić, 1991; Milin, Filipović Đurđević, & Moscoso del Prado Martín, 2009; Moscoso del Prado Martı́n, Kostić, & Baayen, 2004). The distribution of forms across paradigms, in contrast, has received little experimental attention. Theoretical studies investigate the distribution of forms across paradigms because forms vary in how predictive they are of other (unknown) forms. Such investigations have uncovered typological tendencies (e.g., Ackerman & Malouf, 2013; Stump & Finkel, 2013) and contribute to explanations of language-specific phenomena (e.g., Sims, 2015; Parker & Sims, To appear). The intersection of these research approaches raises questions about how the distribution of forms within and across paradigms affects lexical access and representation. Based on forms of Russian nouns representing two morphosyntactic property sets and lexemes from three inflection classes, it is shown that speakers are sensitive to differences in form and morphosyntactic property set in a visual lexical decision task. In a priming task, nominative forms prime locative forms better than vice versa regardless of suffix, despite differences between the same forms in the lexical decision task. These results suggest that speakers make generalizations about forms across classes, including at the level of word forms and morphosyntactic property sets.

Semantic effects in word recognition are moderated by body-object interaction

A potential embodied influence in the semantic effects of Danger and Usefulness is investigated using Body-Object Interaction (BOI). Lexical decision times are influenced by ratings of Danger and Usefulness. In a frequently-found interaction, thought to be produced by activated approach-withdraw motor responses, increasing Danger ratings produce faster responses for items with lower Usefulness ratings while producing slower responses for items with higher Usefulness ratings. BOI is used to test the embodied explanation of this interaction. The same 102 words were presented in two lexical decision experiments. In both auditory and visual lexical decision, the effects of Danger and Usefulness were found to be diminished for items with higher BOI ratings. BOI moderates Danger and Usefulness effects in both auditory and visual lexical decision, in a way that suggests BOI is either the stronger or the temporally earlier effect.