PSYU2239 Word Recognition & Reading

Question 1

Describe the 5 types of linguistic processing

Answer 1

1. Orthography - spelling of words
2. Phonology - sound of words
3. Semantics - meaning of words
4. Syntax - grammar
5. Discourse processing - making inferences

Question 2

List 4 research methods to study reading and describe them

Answer 2

1. Lexical decision task - word/nonword
2. Naming task - read the word
3. Categorization task
4. Interference and priming task - word processing studied indirectly by distractor

Question 3

Describe the findings and conclusion of Stroop Interference Effect with non-colour words with naming vs manual response

Answer 3

Naming RT > Manual RT
Naming requires an extra phonology step, hence it’s slower (same output system)

Question 4

Describe the procedure of masked priming

Answer 4

A prime is briefly presented before target but can’t be identified by participants

Question 5

What is the priming effect?

Answer 5

RT control - RT related
Vard-Clip - clip-CLIP

Question 6

What does the strong phonology hypothesis assume?

Answer 6

Phonological representation is a necessary product of processing printed words
Phonological processing is mandatory in reading

Question 7

What is the homophone interference effect?

Answer 7

More errors to a non-member when it is a homophone of a member in a semantic categorization

Question 8

What is Masked Phonological Priming? What’s the effect of it (findings)

Answer 8

MPP is when priming shows a (non)word that is phonologically similar to the target
Klip-CLIP < Plip-CLIP
Phonology is processed faster than orthography

Question 9

What does masked phonological priming suggests about processing?

Answer 9

Phonological processing is automatic

Question 10

Relationship between orthography and phonology in English

Answer 10

Reading development is slower

Question 11

Describe regular words, irregular words, and pseudowords (nonwords)

Answer 11

Regular word - word that you read as it is
Irregular word - word that is pronounced in a different way than expected
Pseudowords - words that do not exist, yet it is still readable based on its grapheme

Question 12

What does the Dual-Route Cascaded Model (DRC) suggests about reading aloud?

Answer 12

Individuals use both lexical and non-lexical route when reading aloud

Question 13

Describe all 3 routes in DRC model

Answer 13

Route 1 - Grapheme-Phoneme Conversion
- Used for unfamiliar words
- Converts graphemes to phonemes (letters to sounds)

Route 2 - Lexical Semantic Route
- Recognizes a word from memory and access its meaning
- Convert to sound

Route 3 - Lexical Non-Semantic Route
- Recognizes a word from memory and converts to phonology without accessing its meaning

Lexical route are used for familiar words as it’s sensitive to word frequency

Question 14

What is regularity effect in the DRC model?

Answer 14

Regular words are read faster than irregular words
PINT > PINK

Question 15

Describe Surface, Phonological, and Deep Dyslexia

Answer 15

Surface (can only read from the surface)
- Intact nonword reading
- Poor at reading irregular words
- Regularisation

Phonological
- Poor at reading nonwords (JINK)

Deep
- Same as phonological but + semantic errors
- Reads TULIP as ROSE

Question 16

Patient KT has
- 100% nonword reading accuracy
- 81% regular word reading accuracy
- 41% irregular word reading accuracy

What dyslexia does Patient KT have? What route of the DRC model may be impaired?

Answer 16

Surface Dyslexia
Intact Non-lexical Route , Impaired Lexical Route

Question 17

Patient described by Coltheart
- Reads “KNOWS” as “K-NOWS”

What route in the DRC model explains this?

Answer 17

Non-lexical route
This patient is over-relying on the non-lexical route, mapping spelling onto sound

Question 18

Patient WB
- Can’t produce the sound of any single letter (p - /p/)
- Maintained ability to read real words with 85% accuracy

What dyslexia does patient WB have? How does the DRC model explains this?

Answer 18

Phonological dyslexia
Lexical route intact - ability to read whole words
Difficulty with non-lexical route

Question 19

Deep dyslexia have problems in reading ____ (3) words
N
A
F

Answer 19

Nonwords
Abstract
Function

Question 20

What does connectionist triangle model assume?

Answer 20

All information (orthography, phonology, semantics) is used to read both words and pseudowords

Question 21

Explain the 2 pathways in reading aloud from the connectionist triangle model

Answer 21

1. Direct orthography to phonology
2. Orthography to phonology through semantics

Question 22

Which type of word have the biggest impact from semantic knowledge?
Why?

Answer 22

Inconsistent words
Longer processing time

Question 23

How does connectionist triangle model explains surface dyslexia in reading irregular words?

Answer 23

Damage to the semantic system
Strong association between impaired semantic knowledge and surface dyslexia (in semantic dementia patients)

Question 24

Eye tracking: Describe these terms
1. Saccade
2. Fixations

Answer 24

1. Saccades - rapid jumps in forward direction
   - Around 8 letters
2. Fixations
   - Information extracted here

Question 25

What information is processed in parafovea?

Answer 25

Low-level information (length, size)

Question 26

What is (not) fixated?

Answer 26

Fixated - 80% of content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) Not fixated - 20% Function words are fixated - Function words

Question 27

What does Spritz says about speed reading apps?

Answer 27

Read, comprehend, and retain information without moving eyes Saccades waste time as no information is extracted during that period

Question 28

Why doesn't speed reading app work?

Answer 28

1. Reading rate is not constant normally 2. Reading rate is controlled as a function of comprehension difficulty 3. It varies as a function of linguistic characteristics and stimuli (word frequency, regularity, word length, etc; we don't read all words at a constant speed)