Unmasking the Effects of Orthography, Semantics, and Phonology on 2AFC Visual Word Perceptual Identification

In the two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) task, the target stimulus is presented very briefly, and the participants must choose between two options as to which was the presented target. Some past research (Grossi et al., 2009; Haro et al., 2019) has assumed that the 2AFC word identification task isolates orthographic effects, despite orthographic, semantic, and phonological differences between the alternative options. If so, performance should not differ between word target/nonword foil pairs and British/American word pairs, the latter of which only differ orthographically. In Experiment 1, accuracy and sensitivity were higher during word/nonword trials than British/American trials when participants stated their response was not a guess, demonstrating that phonological/semantic processing contributes to 2AFC performance. In Experiment 2, target visibility was manipulated by increasing the contrast between target and mask for half the trials. Experiment 2 showed that target visibility did not interact with pair type on reaction time, which suggests phonological/semantic processing did not result in feedback to orthographic encoding in this task. This study demonstrates the influence of phonological/semantic processing on word perceptual identification, and shows that 2AFC word identification does not isolate orthographic effects when word/nonword pairs are used, but using British/American word pairs provides a method for doing so. Implications for models and future research are discussed.

Heritage Language Learners’ Lexical Performance across Pair Types and (Non-)Digital Collaborative Writing Task Environments

A need exists to address how the availability of digital platforms plays a role in collaborative writing. Further, interest has emerged to understand heritage language (HL) learners’ writing as a result of task-based peer interactions with either second language (L2) or HL learners across face-to-face (FTF) and synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) modes. However, it remains unknown how pair type and interaction mode can influence advanced learners’ lexical performance on written texts through measures of lexical richness. Therefore, this study tested 13 HL–L2 and 16 HL–HL dyads enrolled in advanced Spanish content courses who completed two writing tasks across FTF and SCMC modes. The writing tasks consisted of the hiring (Task A) and laying off (Task B) of an individual for known Spanish companies. The written texts were analyzed for lexical richness through lexical density, lexical sophistication, and lexical diversity indices. The main results revealed that the HL–L2 pairs significantly produced a higher ratio of lexical density in their written texts. No significant results were found for lexical diversity or lexical sophistication across pair types and interaction mode. These results imply that HL–L2 pairs distinguished the register of the writing task more so than HL–HL pairs.

Evaluating the Contribution of Emotional Valence to Associative Memory: Retrieval Practice Matters

Research has indicated that emotional valence can influence associative memory, but it is less clear whether it still works when the retrieval practice is controlled. The current study combined an associative recognition task with a paradigm of retrieval practice, with negative, neutral, and positive word pairs serving as stimuli. Results revealed that intact pairs possessed higher correct response proportions than rearranged, old+new, and new pairs; the rearranged pairs were more likely to be classified as intact; a negative impairment effect was observed in both learning conditions; the retrieval practice effect was sensitive to the interaction of emotional valence by pair type. We shows that the involvement of the recollection-driven process varies with pair type, providing telling evidence for the dual-process models; the occurrence of negative impairment effect conforms to the account of spontaneous interactive imagery; the contribution of desirable difficulty framework is modulated by the interaction of emotional valence by pair type.

Effect of agrotechnical and chemical practices on Fusarium rot root in sugar beet production

Sugar beet is one of the economically significant industrial crops for the south and southeast of Kazakhstan. In the conditions of Kazakhstan, the best predecessors of sugar beet are winter wheat and alfalfa, which contribute to the improvement of the susceptibility of beet rot. Early plowing by the semi-pair type in the second decade of August allows reducing the susceptibility of root crops to Fusarium rot by 18%. It is shown that 6 centner/ha of wheat straw on the artificial background contributed to decrease in the prevalence of Fusarium rot, on average 1.4 times, Rhizoctoniosis rot – 1.2 times compared with the control. Increasing the rate of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers contribute to the development of root rot (2-3 times) of sugar beet. To reduce the severity of rotten root crops (from 1.3 to 2.5 times), 6 t/ha of wheat straw are proposed to be applied to the soil together with N90P75K70. Seed treatment with tachigaren seed, rovral and fundazol reduces the development of rot by 8.1-16.6% and leads to an increase in yield of root crops by 31.5-50.2 c/ha.