Lexical access to signs is automatic
To be presented in Spoken English
Automaticity is the hallmark of linguistic competence. Words consist of arbitrary form meaning
pairings (1-2). Moreover, an encounter with a wordʼs form automatically activates its stored
meaning irrespective of task demands. Stroop-like interference offers the gold-standard for
automaticity, as it demonstrates the activation of wordsʼ meanings despite contrary task
demands (3-4). However, most previous Stroop studies were exclusively based on hearing
participants. Only one previous Stroop study examined ASL signers, but its results were
inconclusive (5). Accordingly, it remains unknown whether the automaticity of lexical access is
a property of language processing, generally, or speech, specifically. Here, we examine the
propensity of signs to induce Stroop interference among Deaf native signers of American Sign
Language (ASL). Our study featured monochromatic videos paired with ASL signs—either congruent ASL color
signs (the sign for BLUE presented in the color blue), incongruent signs (e.g., the sign for
GREEN presented in the color blue) or a novel neutral sign XX—a sign that shares location,
palm orientation, and movement with the color signs, but contrasts on handshape. The
proportion of the three conditions was balanced, and their order was randomized. Participants
(Deaf, native ASL signers, N=7) were asked to sign the color of the video as quickly and
accurately as possible. An analysis of variance showed that the congruency between the
signs and the color reliably modulated both response time and accuracy (response time: F(2,
12) = 24.53, p = 0.00005; accuracy: F(2, 12) = 4.03, p = .05, see Figure 1). Specifically,
incongruent signs produced slower (∆ = 54.9 ms, t(12) =14.288; p<.003) and less accurate
responses (∆ = -0.0262, t(12)=6.054; p<.04) compared to the neutral condition, whereas
congruent signs facilitated response time (∆ = 46.8 ms, t(12) =10.382; p<.008; in accuracy: ∆
= 0.00).
To determine whether participantsʼ attention to the ASL signs was due to a response strategy,
promoted by the presence of congruent signs, Experiment 2 repeated Experiment 1 without
the congruent condition. Preliminary results (N=3) suggest that the Stroop interference
remained intact (F(1, 2) = 40.577, p = .02378, in accuracy: see Figure 2). In a third
experiment, we sought to determine whether the Stroop interference might be due to response
competition or automatic lexical access. To this end, we asked participants to respond by
pressing a button rather than signing. Preliminary results (N=3) showed that incongruent signs
nonetheless produced slower responses compared to congruent ones (∆ = 72.29 ms, t(4)
=8.11; p<.05).
Taken as a whole, these results suggest that Deaf native signers of ASL automatically retrieve
signsʼ meanings. We conclude that the automaticity of lexical retrieval is an amodal property of
natural language processing, irrespective of modality—speech or sign.
References
1.
C. F. Hockett, Sci. Am. 203, 89 (Sep, 1960).
2.
W. C. Stokoe. Review of Meaning and the Structure of Language. Sign Language Studies
i: 64—70 (1976)
3.
MacLeod, C. M. (1991). Half a century of research on the stroop effect: An integrative
review. Psychological Bulletin, 109(2), 163-203.
4.
Bargh, J. A. (1992). The ecology of automaticity: Toward establishing the conditions
needed to produce automatic processing effects. The American Journal of Psychology, 105(2),
181-199.
5.
Marschark, M., & Shroyer, E. H. (1993). Hearing status and language fluency as
predictors of automatic word and sign recognition. American Annals of the Deaf, 138(4), 370375.
Images: Figure 1: The effect of congruency in
Experiment 1 (colors are presented with
congruent, incongruent and neutral signs;
response mode is signing).
Figure 3: The effect of congruency in
Experiment 3 (colors are presented with
congruent, incongruent and neutral signs;
response mode is a button press).
Figure 2: The effect of incongruency in
Experiment 2 (colors are presented with
incongruent and neutral signs; response mode
is signing).
Figure 4: Still images taken from the video
stimulus; Congruent – BLUE signed in the color
blue; Neutral – XX signed in the color yellow;
Incongruent – YELLOW signed in the color
green.