processed words Flashcards
(40 cards)
When recognising words, what does the serial word model argue?
- we wait until the entire word is heard or seen
- only then do we try to find an exact match in our mental lexicon and retrieve its meaning
- there is no early prediction
When recognising words, what does the parallel model argue?
- We don’t wait — as soon as we get the first few sounds or letters, we start activating multiple candidates that match that partial input.
- we create a shortlist of words
- as more input comes in, the list gets narrowed down
How do gating studies demonstrate parallel activation?
hear a little bit of the word and guess what the word is at each point
Can tell us about different stages of word recognition, but not the strongest evidence for parallel activation (task demands!)
How do eye tracking studies demonstrate parallel activation?
When people saw the letters BE..
after they hear the word bench they just look at the bench but before that look at bed because starts with same letters then bell. Showing multiple words activated. Multiple words activated at the same time, evidence of multi word activation.
What is a priming task in psycholinguistics?
A task used to measure how exposure to one word (the prime) influences response time to another word (the target), often using lexical decision tasks.
What is a lexical decision task?
A task where participants decide as quickly as possible whether a string of letters is a real word or not.
How does semantic priming work?
People respond faster to a word (e.g., “ship”) if it follows a semantically related word (e.g., “captain”) than if it follows an unrelated word (e.g., “table”).
What does faster response time in semantic priming suggest?
That semantically related words are linked in the mental lexicon and can activate each other.
What is cross-modal priming?
When a stimulus in one modality (e.g., spoken word) activates related words that may be presented in another modality (e.g., written words).
Give an example of cross-modal priming.
Hearing “CAP” may activate both “ship” (as in captain) and “money” (as in capital), showing activation of multiple candidates.
What demonstrates form competition?
are responses to one word influenced by other words
shown words —> slower to respond to words that have lost of similar forms - these are being activated and competing with each other.
are all words activated to the same degree?
it is words that are more common and have more meaning
what kinds of similar words are activated?
oWords matching the input as it unfolds, e.g., “be…” → “bed”, “bell”, “bench”
oSemantically related words, e.g., “cap…” → “ship”, “money”
oPhonologically similar words, e.g., “rat” → “cat”, “sat”, “mat”
Phoneme Restoration Effect
- Participants were asked to say where they heard the cough/buzz and whether that sound replaced the phoneme (Warren, 1970).
- Participants indicated that all phonemes were heard and misplaced the cough/buzz
- People ‘hear’ the full word despite cough/buzz
McGurk effect
Non-lexical input, such as the face of the person talking (McGurk!)
autonomous or independent argument
context cannot have an effect until after the word is recognised
interactive argument
context can influence word recognition
Context Influences Word Recognition
“camel” vs
“The kids rode on a camel” vs
“At the zoo, the kids rode on a camel”
when were Ps quicker to recognise camel?
with more context -
“At the zoo, the kids rode on a camel”
What was the key finding of the preceding context study?
People looked at “goat” more quickly when there was preceding context, because it made “goat” the only plausible subject to climb.
Why does preceding context speed up recognition of words like “goat”?
Because context narrows down expectations, making it easier for the brain to predict the upcoming word.
preceding or not context?
Preceding !!!!!
how are visual words different to their spoken form
- Spaces between words are obvious
- Written form of letters and words are more consistent than spoken form (no variability in accent etc.)
- Spoken words unfold over time, whereas written words are visible all at once
- Everybody spontaneously learns language, but reading / writing take years of formal teaching
When reading one word, are multiple words activated in parallel?
Or is reading serial – read the word, then access a single meaning?
You can see the whole word at once and see where the boundaries are
- Serial might be more plausible for reading
- But parallel activation is still likely for reading
oSeveral types of evidence
What question did the Rodd et al. study ask?
Whether people are influenced by similar-looking words (like leopard) when making decisions about real but uncommon words (like leotard).
