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Title: Effects of Shared Sound and Spelling on False Word Recognition
Abstract
This experiment will use a recognition memory paradigm to explore the interaction of
sound and spelling information in the early stages of spoken word recognition. It is
well-established that studied words with common semantic (bed, rest, wake) or sound
(paradise) information can induce false recognitions of their corresponding base
words on the test list (sleep and paradox, respectively) (e.g., Roediger & McDermott,
1995; Wallace, Malone, & Spoo, 2000). Previous work in our lab and others has
shown both sound and spelling to influence spoken word recognition in a priming
paradigm (e.g., Slowiaczek, Soltano, Wieting, & Bishop, 2003). For example, primetarget pairs with shared sounds (survive-syringe), shared spelling (measles-measure),
and both shared sounds and spelling (parasite-paragraph) influence naming time of
the target differently than control pairs (sentiment-baritone). Since previous work
with the recognition memory paradigm has confounded sound and spelling, we will
use stimuli from our previous priming work to systematically manipulate shared
sound only, shared spelling only, or both shared sound and spelling between study
and test words in a recognition memory paradigm. If sound and spelling determine
the pool of candidates as the spoken stimulus unfolds, study words with both shared
sound and spelling (parasite) should activate their corresponding target (paragraph)
during study and seem more familiar at test, leading to false recognition errors to their
target (e.g., report having heard paragraph on the study list, when, in fact, it was
parasite).
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Method
Participants: The present study will require 90 participants. Participants will
consist of student volunteers from MSUM. Because of the nature of the processes under
investigation, students must report normal hearing and be native speakers of the English
language. Students taking a course in the Psychology department may receive extra credit
for participating, if allowed by the instructor.
Materials: The study list will consist of 186 items. Serial position filler words
will occupy the first three and last three serial positions on the list. The remaining 180
positions will be allotted to two blocks of the 90 study items of interest and distributed
across the following eight shared information categories: (1) beginning sounds, (2)
beginning spelling, (3) beginning both, (4) ending sounds, (5) ending spelling, (6) ending
both, (7) unrelated, and (8) targets. Three different versions of the study list will be
created, so that the study relationship for each target is counterbalanced across lists. The
words will be presented at a 3-second rate.
The test list will consist of 94 items—two serial position buffers at the beginning
and end with the 90 critical test words in the middle in random order.
The stimuli will be taken from our previous priming studies conducted here on
campus. A selection of stimuli is attached.
Procedure: A trained undergraduate research assistant will test participants
individually in a small, quiet room. Participants will be seated in front of a computer
monitor with the research assistant seated off to the side in front of the computer
keyboard. Participants will be fitted with headphones and told that they will hear a long
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list of words. Participants will be instructed to simply listen carefully to the items on the
list and that instructions for the second part of the experiment will be given later. After
the study list, participants will engage in a 5-minute math distracter task. Then
participants will be informed that a second, shorter list of words will be played. For each
word presented, participants will indicate “old” (the word appeared on the first list) or
“new” (the word did not appear on the first list). The experimenter will type each
response into the computer, thereby triggering the presentation of the next test word. The
entire experiment will last about 20 minutes
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