WORD RECOGNTION
(Sereno, 1/05)
I. Introduction to psycholinguistics
II. Basic units of language
III. Word recognition
IV. Word frequency & lexical ambiguity
WORD RECOGNTION
(Sereno, 1/05)
I. Introduction to psycholinguistics
II. Basic units of language
III. Word recognition
IV. Word frequency & lexical ambiguity
I. Introduction to Psycholinguistics
A. Properties of language
B. What does it mean to study language?
C. Competence / Performance
examples of language use
I. Introduction to Psycholinguistics
A. Properties of language
Human Language = flexible, symbol-based and rulebased mode of communication that permits
conveyance of any kind of information. Its
properties include:
Creative – a limitless # of thoughts can be expressed
in a limitless # of ways.
Structured – sounds are combined into words, and words
into sentences according to rules (i.e., grammar).
] hierarchical
I. Introduction to Psycholinguistics
A. Properties of language
Meaningful – ideas are conveyed by individual words
and how they are organised into sentences.
] Ex: The cat ate the dog.
The dog ate the cat.
Referential – it refers to and describes things and events
in the world.
Interpersonal / Communicative – it has a social function.
I. Introduction to Psycholinguistics
A. Properties of language
Arbitrary – relationship between form and meaning
(cf. sound symbolism)
Displacement – ability to communicate about things
that are not present (spatially, temporally)
Prevaricate – ability to lie
I. Introduction to Psycholinguistics
B. What does it mean to study language?
Linguistics = structure of language
phonetics, syntax, semantics, cross-language
comparisons, language universals
Psycholinguistics = processing of language
understanding the mechanisms of language behavior
e.g., normal adult comprehension and production of
language; neurolinguistics; language acquisition;
language in non-humans
I. Introduction to Psycholinguistics
B. What does it mean to study language?
Socio-linguistics = social aspects of language
Linguistic factors, such as ...
voice pitch, pronunciation (dialect),
word choice, intonation
... influence our judgements about the speaker’s:
age, gender, geographical identity,
socio-economic class, intelligence,
personality, mood
Examples: R’s in New York (Labov, 1966)
Disney
I. Introduction to Psycholinguistics
C. Competence / Performance
Competence = what one knows
Implicit knowledge - knowing what’s “right”
Explicit knowledge - explain in terms of formal rules
Performance = what one does; how knowledge is used
-----------------------------------------
Examples of language use:
(1) wordness
(2) grammaticality judgements
(3) tag questions
Wordness: For each row of 3 possible new words,
which one will probably never make it : (
blick
splunge
rlight
sbarm
wumple
turl
mancer
nserht
crelurious
inther
iwhucr
neen
shace
fring
ngout
Grammaticality Judgements
John is difficult to love.
It is difficult to love John.
John is anxious to go.
* It is anxious to go John.
What he did was climb a tree.
* What he thought was want a sports car.
* What are you drinking and go home?
* Mary was near the stream, was it?
Tag Question = element attached at end of utterance;
not a true question nor a full declarative statement;
a way of asking for confirmation
That was a horrible movie, wasn’t it?
She’s been swimming,
Jeremy wants to go dancing,
You haven’t had any sleep,
The man who was smoking died,
Those friends of Maria’s that we don’t
particularly like didn’t know,
hasn’t she
______________?
doesn’t he
______________?
have you
______________?
didn’t he
______________?
did they
______________?
Tag Question formation rules...
But first, background information about
the (dreaded) VERB AUXILIARY
Declarative
Jo has eaten well.
Jo was bad again.
Jo ran yesterday.
Verb Aux.
HAVE
BE
DO
GRAMMATICAL
TRANSFORMATION
Question
Has Jo eaten well?
Was Jo bad again?
Did Jo run yesterday?
Negation
Jo hasn’t eaten well.
Jo wasn’t bad again.
Jo didn’t run yesterday.
Verb Aux.
HAVE
BE
DO
Tag question formation rules:
1. Copy the auxiliary of the main verb to the
right of the sentence.
2. Make it negative if the original is positive
or positive if the original is negative.
3. Add the pronoun that corresponds to the
subject in person, number, and gender.
weren’t they
Bob and Betty were laughing loudly, _____________?
did n’t she
That famous surgeon quit,
_____________?
is she
She’s not leaving already,
_____________?
WORD RECOGNTION
(Sereno, 1/05)
I. Introduction to psycholinguistics
II. Basic units of language
III. Word recognition
IV. Word frequency & lexical ambiguity
II. Basic Units of Language
A. ~5,000 languages
phonemes  morphemes  sentences  conversations
(sounds)
& words
B. Phonemes = elementary sounds of speech
• phonemes are not letters...
to, too, two, through, threw, shoe, clue, view
• vowel & consonant phonemes
• 11-144 phonemes in any given language
English has ~ 40; Hawaiian has ~16
• combining phonemes is rule-governed
II. Basic Units of Language
C. Morphemes = smallest meaningful unit of lang.
• can be a word, word stem, or affix (prefix, suffix)
help, love
“free” { word:
word stem:
spir, ceive, duce
“bound” prefix/suffix: re-, dis-, un- / -less, -ful, -er
• derivational & inflectional morphemes
derivational – change the grammatical class
V + -able = Adj (adorable, believable)
V + -er
= N (singer, runner)
inflectional – grammatical markers
V + -ed = past tense (walked)
N + -s
= plural (cows)
{
II. Basic Units of Language
C. Words
• Content vs. function (open- vs. closed-class) words
Content words = carry the main meaning
nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
Function words = grammatical words
articles (a, the, this), conjunctions (and,
but), prepositions (in, above)
Psychological reality of the content-function
word distinction in aphasia  selective
impairment of content (Wernicke’s) or
function words (Broca’s aphasia)
• Cattell (1886) & Stroop (1935)
Word superiority effect (Cattell, 1886)
– Reicher (1969); Wheeler (1970)
– tachistoscopic presentation
word

---
d

d
k
d
k
– more accurate identification of the letter
when stimulus is a word
– pseudoword superiorty effect
NAME THE COLOUR OF THE INK
GREEN
RED
BLUE
BLACK
BLUE
RED
GREEN
BLACK
RED
BLUE
RED
BLUE
GREEN
BLACK
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
RED
BLUE
GREEN
II. Basic Units of Language
C. Words
• Ambiguity
1 word form, but 2 (or more) word meanings
Ex: bank (N-N, “money” vs. “river”)
watch (N-V, “clock” vs. “look”)
bass (N-N, “guitar” vs. “fish”)
2 word forms, but 1 pronunciation
Ex: sail/sale, right/write
Generally unaware of ambiguity...
even though it is quite pervasive
even though it affects behaviour (RT, etc)
II. Basic Units of Language
D. Sentences
• Syntax = the rule-governed system for grouping
words together into phrases and sentences
• Sentences introduce a concept that they are about,
the subject (or noun phrase), and then propose
something about that concept, the predicate
(or verb phrase).
Ex: “The boy hit the ball.”
doer act done-to (thematic roles)
subject
predicate
II. Basic Units of Language
D. Sentences
• Same deep structure, different surface structure
“The boy hit the ball.”
(active)
“The ball was hit by the boy.”
(passive)
• Same surface structure, different deep structure
[The French bottle]NP [smells.]VP
“The French bottle smells.”
[The French]NP [bottle smells.]VP
THEY are boring.
“Visiting relatives can be boring.”
VISITING THEM is boring.
cf. ambig. figures in perception: 1 form, 2 interpretations
Necker cube
Headlines
New obesity study looks for larger test group
Reagan wins on budget, but more lies ahead
Man struck by lightening faces battery charge
Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Axe
Milk Drinkers Are Turning to Powder
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
British Left Waffles on Falklands
Dealers Will Hear Car Talk at Noon
Miners Refuse to Work after Death
Beating Witness Provides Names
Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Headlines
Stolen Painting Found by Tree
Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
Red Tape Holds up Bridge
Deer Kill 17,000
Teenage Prostitution Problem is Mounting
Child Stool Great for Use in Garden
Shouting Match Ends Teacher’s Hearing
Man Robs then Kills Himself
Lung Cancer in Women Mushrooms
Mondale’s Offensive Looks Hard to Beat
Tuna Biting off Washington Coast
Chinese Apeman Dated
II. Basic Units of Language
D. Sentences
• Syntactic ambiguities
“She hit the boy with the big stick.”
“She hit the boy with the runny nose.”
Interpretation depends on structural preferences
(certain constructions used more often, favoured),
as well as the prior discourse context.
WORD RECOGNTION
(Sereno, 1/05)
I. Introduction to psycholinguistics
II. Basic units of language
III. Word recognition
IV. Word frequency & lexical ambiguity
III. Word Recognition
How long does it take to recognise a visual word?
– What is meant by “recognition” or “lexical access”?
– Can lexical access be accurately measured?
– What factors affect lexical access and when?
The “magic moment” (Balota, 1990) of lexical access:
“At this moment, presumably there is recognition that the
stimulus is a word, and access of other information (such
as the meaning of the word, its syntactic class, its sound,
and its spelling) would be rapid if not immediate.”
(Pollatsek & Rayner, 1990)
III. Word Recognition
•
•
•
•
•
Measures
Components
Models
Eye movements (EMs)
Event-related potentials (ERPs)
Measures
• Standard behavioral techniques
• Eye movements (EMs)
• Neuroimaging
– “Electrical”: EEG, MEG, (TMS)
– “Blood flow”: PET, fMRI
Measures
• Standard behavioural techniques
– lexical decision, naming, categorisation; also
RSVP, self-paced reading
– priming, masking, lateralised presentation
– Donders (1868): subtractive method
• assumes strictly serial stages of processing
• additive vs. interactive effects
– automatic vs. strategic (Posner & Snyder, 1975)
controlled
unconscious
endogenous
exogenous
top-down
bottom-up
cost & benefit
benefit
Stim Qual X Freq
RT
Context
Stimulus
Quality
Frequency
Context X Stim Qual
Context X Freq
RT
Measures
• Standard behavioural techniques
– lexical decision, naming, categorisation; also
RSVP, self-paced reading
– priming, masking, lateralised presentation
– Donders (1868): subtractive method
• assumes strictly serial stages of processing
• additive vs. interactive effects
– automatic vs. strategic (Posner & Snyder, 1975)
controlled
unconscious
endogenous
exogenous
top-down
bottom-up
cost & benefit
benefit
PRIME
RT
SOA < 250 SOA > 250
TARGET
Related
cat
dog
500
500
Unrelated
bed
dog
550
600
Neutral
xxx
dog
550
550
time
prime
target
ISI = InterStimulus Interval
SOA = Stimulus Onset Asynchrony
Measures
• Standard behavioral techniques
• Eye movements (EMs)
• Neuroimaging
– “Electrical”: EEG, MEG, (TMS)
– “Blood flow”: PET, fMRI
TASK
MEASURE
TIME RES.
various word tasks
“electrical” imaging: EEG, MEG
ms-by-ms
Normal reading
fixation duration (as well as
location and sequence of EMs)
~250 ms
GOOD
Standard word recognition paradigms (± priming, ± masking):
naming
lexical decision
categorisation
various word tasks
RT
~500 ms
~600 ms
~800 ms
“blood flow” imaging: fMRI, PET
seconds
POOR
Components
• Orthography of language
– English vs. Hebrew or Japanese
• Language skill
– beginning (novice) vs. skilled (expert) reader
– easy vs. difficult text
Components
• Intraword variables
– word-initial bi/tri-grams
– spelling-to-sound regularity
– neighborhood consistency
– morphemes
• prefix vs. pseudoprefix
• compound vs. pseudocompound
clown vs. dwarf
hint vs. pint
made vs. gave
remind vs. relish
cowboy vs. carpet
Components
• Word variables
– word length
– word frequency
– AoA
– ambiguity
– syntactic class
– concreteness
– affective tone
– etc.
duke vs. fisherman
student vs. steward
dinosaur vs. university
bank vs. edge, brim
open vs. closed; A,N,V
tree vs. idea
love vs. farm vs. fire
Components
• Extraword variables
– contextual predictability
The person saw the...
moustache.
The barber trimmed the...
– syntactic complexity
Mary took the book.
*Mary took the book was good.
Mary knew the book.
Mary knew the book was good.
*Mary hoped the book. Mary hoped the book was good.
– discourse factors (anaphora, elaborative inferences)
He assaulted her with his weapon.... ...knife...
stabbed
Models
• Dual-route account (Coltheart, 1978)
semantics
phonology
Indirect route
(assembled)
Direct route
(addressed)
orthography
Models
• Dual-route account (Coltheart, 1978)
Deep dyslexia
- visual/semantic errors
(sympathy -> orchestra)
- can’t read nonwords
semantics
phonology
Indirect route
(assembled)
Direct route
(addressed)
orthography
Models
• Dual-route account (Coltheart, 1978)
Surface dyslexia
- regularization errors
(broad -> brode)
- Reg wds,NWs are OK
(GPC rules intact)
phonology
Indirect route
(assembled)
semantics
Direct route
(addressed)
orthography
Models
• Interactive (Morton, 1969; Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989)
context
meaning
orthography
phonology
MAKE
/m A k/
Models
• Modular (Forster, 1979; Fodor, 1983)
Message
processor
Syntactic
processor
General
Problem
Solver
Lexical
processor
input features
decision output
Models
• Hybrid
– 2-stage: generate candidate set  selection
– (Becker & Killion; Norris; Potter)
III. Word Recognition
•
•
•
•
•
Measures
Components
Models
Eye movements (EMs)
Event-related potentials (ERPs)
TASK
MEASURE
TIME RES.
various word tasks
“electrical” imaging: EEG, MEG
ms-by-ms
Normal reading
fixation duration (as well as
location and sequence of EMs)
~250 ms
GOOD
Standard word recognition paradigms (± priming, ± masking):
naming
lexical decision
categorisation
various word tasks
RT
~500 ms
~600 ms
~800 ms
“blood flow” imaging: fMRI, PET
seconds
POOR
Tools of choice:
• Recording eye movements in reading
• Recording ERPs in language tasks
Eye Movements (EMs)
Best on-line measure of visual word
recognition in the context of normal
reading:
• Fast (avg fixation time ≈ 250 ms)
• Ecologically valid task
• Eye-mind span is tight
EYE MOVEMENTS
fixation
onset
visual
cortex
shift attention,
initiate EM
motor program
signal
to eye initiate
muscles saccade
fixation
onset
modify EM
program
LEXICAL ACCESS
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
ERPs
Best real-time measure of brain activity
associated with the perceptual and cognitive
processing of words:
• Continuous ms-by-ms record of events
• Early, exogenous components (before 200 ms)
should reflect lexical processing
Number
of trials
EEG
1
2
4
8
P1
P300
ERP
16
N1
N400
(Sereno & Rayner, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2003)
High-density ERP Analysis:
A case of “too many notes”?
High-density ERP Analysis:
Typical approaches for space & time
• Pick ‘n choose favourite electrode and ERP
component
High-density ERP Analysis:
Typical approaches for space & time
• Pick ‘n choose favourite electrode and ERP
component
• Hunt down where/when the effect is strongest and
gather data from those electrodes/time window
High-density ERP Analysis:
Typical approaches for space & time
• Pick ‘n choose favourite electrode and ERP
component
• Hunt down where/when the effect is strongest and
gather data from those electrodes/time window
• Procrustean regions analysis (turtle shell) or series of
pre-set time windows (eg, 50, 100, 200 ms)
High-density ERP Analysis:
Typical approaches for space & time
• Pick ‘n choose favourite electrode and ERP
component
• Hunt down where/when the effect is strongest and
gather data from those electrodes/time window
• Procrustean regions analysis (turtle shell) or series of
pre-set time windows (eg, 50, 100, 200 ms)
• Spatial and/or temporal principal component
analysis (PCA)
Scalp topography of the N1 @ 132-192 ms
SF1 loadings
Voltages
(Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell, Psychological Science, 2003)
Scalp topography of the N1 @ 132-192 ms
SF1 loadings
Voltages
± 0.7 factor loading contours
WORD RECOGNTION
(Sereno, 1/05)
I. Introduction to psycholinguistics
II. Basic units of language
III. Word recognition
IV. Word frequency & lexical ambiguity
Frequency: “When is access?”
• Word frequency effect = differential response to commonly
used high-frequency (HF) words vs. low-frequency (LF)
words that occur much less often:
The sore on Tam-Tam’s
(HF) backwas swollen.
(LF) rump
• A word frequency effect [ HF < LF ] is used as a marker
(index) of successful word recognition (lexical access).
• If you can track frequency, you can track lexical access...
490 ms
553 ms
259 ms
275 ms
280 ms
293 ms
(Sereno & Rayner, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2003)
(Sereno & Rayner, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2003)
Ambiguity: “How early is context?”
• Ambiguous words have 1 form and 2 meanings:
CRICKET
=
or
cf.
• Understanding how ambiguous words are processed tells
us about how words in general are processed.
• Is only the context-relevant meaning selectively accessed,
or, are all meanings accessed (regardless of context) with
selection occurring at a later, post-lexical integration stage?
• The timing of contextual constraint - early or late - has
implications for the architecture of language processing...
lexical
human
Distributed hierarchical visual processing in the primate
higher-level
semantics
syntax
meanings
word forms
letters
features
lexical
human
Distributed hierarchical visual processing in the primate
Models of Lexical Ambiguity Resolution
• Modular position
– Access is exhaustive: All meanings of ambiguous words are
automatically accessed; context cannot directly affect lexical
processing, but instead operates on the output of the lexical
processor to select the appropriate sense.
• Interactive position
– Access is selective: Context guides access towards the
appropriate sense of an ambiguous word; while both senses
may be initially activated, only the contextually appropriate
sense is fully accessed.
How ambiguity has been studied
• “Indirect” measures
– Secondary: Effects of context on ambiguous word gauged by
priming effects on target downstream
– Paradigms:
•
•
•
•
Cross-modal priming
ERP unimodal priming
Eye movement “fast priming”
Unimodal priming (probe tasks)
[Swinney; Tanenhaus et al.; 1979]
[Van Petten & Kutas, 1987]
[Sereno, 1995]
[Simpson; Kellas & colleagues]
• “Direct” measures
– Primary: Effects of context on ambiguous word gauged by
comparing its fixation time/voltage to control word
– Paradigms:
• Eye movement reading
• ERP word-by-word reading
[Rayner & colleagues]
[Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell, 2003]
Example of ‘Indirect’: Cross-modal priming
Auditory context
Aud amb Visual
prime
target
“The building was infested with BUGS”
ANT
SPY
SEW
“and it…”
Results: In general, support Modularity of lexical processing.
--------------------
Other ‘indirect’ paradigms
comments
• ERP unimodal priming
• Eye movement “fast priming”
• Unimodal priming (probe tasks)
N400 is late component
reflect lexical & post-lexical
slow RT≈700ms, stimulus
presentation; control cond?
How ambiguity has been studied
• “Indirect” measures
– Secondary: Effects of context on ambiguous word gauged by
priming effects on target downstream
– Paradigms:
•
•
•
•
Cross-modal priming
ERP unimodal priming
Eye movement “fast priming”
Unimodal priming (probe tasks)
[Swinney; Tanenhaus et al.; 1979]
[Van Petten & Kutas, 1987]
[Sereno, 1995]
[Simpson, Kellas & colleagues]
• “Direct” measures
– Primary: Effects of context on ambiguous word gauged by
comparing its fixation time/voltage to control word
– Paradigms:
• Eye movement reading
• ERP word-by-word reading
[Rayner & colleagues]
[Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell, 2003]
Example of ‘Direct’: EM normal reading
The mud was deep along the bank ...
HF=word form
The mud was deep along the edge ...
 LF=meaning
The mud was deep along the brim ...
Results:
Fixation time
Amb=LF > HF
“Spillover” time
Amb > LF > HF
--------------------
Other ‘direct’ paradigm
comments
• ERP word-by-word reading
N1 effects (@132 ms);
but, ‘impaired’ reading

Ambiguous
(subordinate)
EM studies of lexical ambiguity
• Compare fixation time on an ambiguous word to a
control word across different contexts.
Context
Ambiguous
Neutral
Robin peered over at the _____ ...
bank
Biasing
The mud was deep along the _____ ...
bank
Control
= edge
> edge
Fixation
time
• Critical factors that affect fixation time
Factors identified from EM studies
(1) Context
Biasing = disambiguation before target
Neutral = disambiguation after target
(2) Meaning instantiated
(3) Type of amb word
Dominant (Dom)
Subordinate (Sub)
Biased (polarized):
Balanced:
Dom >> Sub
Dom ≥ Sub
Factors identified from EM studies
(1) Context
Biasing = disambiguation before target
Neutral = disambiguation after target
Dominant (Dom)
(2) Meaning instantiated
Subordinate (Sub)
(3) Type of amb word
Biased (polarized):
Balanced:
Dom >> Sub
Dom ≥ Sub
Subordinate:
“river”
Dominant:
“money”
BANK
Factors identified from EM studies
(1) Context
Biasing = disambiguation before target
Neutral = disambiguation after target
(2) Meaning instantiated
(3) Type of amb word
Dominant (Dom)
Subordinate (Sub)
Biased (polarized):
Balanced:
Dom >> Sub
Dom ≥ Sub
Balanced: Dom ≥ Sub
Biased (polarised): Dom >> Sub
Why is BANK so slow?
Context
Ambiguous
Neutral
Robin peered over at the _____ ...
bank
Biasing
The mud was deep along the _____ ...
bank
Control
= edge
> edge
• Shouldn’t a biasing context facilitate word recognition?
• BANK is a biased ambiguous word (Dom>>Sub), and
the prior biasing context supports its Sub sense.
Why is BANK so slow?
Context
Ambiguous
Neutral
Robin peered over at the _____ ...
bank
Biasing
The mud was deep along the _____ ...
bank
Control
= edge
> edge
• Modular:
– Post-lexical processing (serial) is slowed in biasing context
because integration is only successful half the time (at most).
• Interactive:
– Lexical processing is slowed because the Sub sense is
equivalent to a low frequency (LF) word meaning.
Why are the others faster?
Context
Ambiguous
Neutral
Robin peered over at the _____ ...
bank
Biasing
The mud was deep along the _____ ...
bank
Control
= edge
> edge
• Why is Neutral BANK so fast?
– Only strong, Dom sense is accessed & it fits (neutral) context.
• Why is EDGE so fast?
– It’s a HF word.
What about the CONTROL word?
• In almost all EM ambiguity studies, the unambiguous control
word is chosen to match the overall word-form frequency of
the ambiguous target.
• For biased ambiguous words (Dom>>Sub), this typically
results in control words that are high frequency (HF) words.
• A more appropriate control might be one matched to the
meaning frequency of the ambiguous word’s instantiated
Sub sense – a low frequency (LF) word.
The mud was deep along the bank ...
Word form = HF
The mud was deep along the edge ...
 Word meaning = LF
The mud was deep along the brim ...

Ambiguous (Sub)
M
E
A
N
I
N
G
F
O
R
M
“money”
“edge”
Dom
HF
“river”
Sub
FO R M
“brim”
LF
M EA N I N G
BANK
ambiguous
EDGE
BRIM
unambiguous controls
EM ambiguity studies
Duffy & Rayner (1986)
Duffy, Morris, & Rayner (1988)
Rayner & Frazier (1989)
Sereno, Pacht, & Rayner (1992)
Dopkins, Morris, & Rayner (1992)
Rayner, Pacht, & Duffy (1994)
Sereno (1995)
Binder & Morris (1995)
Binder & Rayner (1998)
Binder & Rayner (1999)
Rayner, Binder, & Duffy (1999)
Wiley & Rayner (2000)
Kambe, Rayner, & Duffy (2001) x
Binder (2003)
ERP study
Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell (2003)
Control word
Context
HF LF amb sentence paragraph
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
- switch
x
- switch
x
- switch
- switch
EM ambiguity studies
Duffy & Rayner (1986)
Duffy, Morris, & Rayner (1988)
Rayner & Frazier (1989)
Sereno, Pacht, & Rayner (1992)
Dopkins, Morris, & Rayner (1992)
Rayner, Pacht, & Duffy (1994)
Sereno (1995)
Binder & Morris (1995)
Binder & Rayner (1998)
Binder & Rayner (1999)
Rayner, Binder, & Duffy (1999)
Wiley & Rayner (2000)
Kambe, Rayner, & Duffy (2001) x
Binder (2003)
ERP study
Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell (2003)
Sereno, O’Donnell, & Rayner
Control word
Context
HF LF amb sentence paragraph
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
inconsistent
x
inconsistent
x
inconsistent
inconsistent
x
Kambe et al. (2001)
Global
(Sub /Dom)
Inconsistent
“dog” “dog”
“fighter” “dog”
After she was robbed, Mary
decided to buy an attack dog.
2 ‘fillers’
Local + target
(Sub )
Consistent
Mike Tyson had just arrived
in town on a promotional tour.
When the community found out, many of
them were very angry. Others were not
sure how they felt.
Mary wanted something to protect
her so when she saw an ad for a
boxer/puppy in the local paper, she
bought it and immediately felt much safer.
Kambe et al. (2001)
Global
(Sub /Dom)
Consistent
Inconsistent
“dog” “dog”
“fighter” “dog”
Sam’s pet died last week and
he wanted a new companion.
Sam was out of shape and
needed to join a gym.
2 ‘fillers’
He spent a great deal of time reviewing
his options. He even went to talk to other
people to get their advice.
Local + target
Sam decided to go to a kennel where
he bought a boxer/puppy that he knew
he would like to take home.
(Sub )
Kambe et al. (2001)
Context
Global
Local
Gaze Duration (ms)
Consistent
Sub
Sub
Amb (303) > HF (286)
Inconsistent
Dom
Sub
Amb (304) > HF (291)
Sereno, O’Donnell, & Rayner:
Changes to Kambe et al.
1
Only use Consistent (global=local=SUB) contexts.
2
Remove 2 internal “filler” sentences that occur
between global and local sentences.
3
Add word meaning (LF) control word.
4
Create new paragraph to accommodate additional
control word for counter-balancing purposes.
Stimuli: Example 1
Step 1: Only Consistent versions
After she was robbed, Mary decided to buy an attack dog.
When the community found out, many of them were very angry.
Others were not sure how they felt. Mary wanted something to
protect her so when she saw an ad for a boxer/puppy in the local
paper, she bought it and immediately felt much safer.
Sam’s pet died last week and he wanted a new companion. He
spent a great deal of time reviewing his options. He even went to
talk to other people to get their advice. Sam decided to go to a
kennel where he bought a boxer/puppy that he knew he would
like to take home.
Stimuli: Example 1
Step 2: Remove internal ‘filler’ sentences
After she was robbed, Mary decided to buy an attack dog. When
the community found out, many of them were very angry. Others
were not sure how they felt. Mary wanted something to protect her
so when she saw an ad for a boxer/puppy in the local paper, she
bought it and immediately felt much safer.
Sam’s pet died last week and he wanted a new companion. He
spent a great deal of time reviewing his options. He even went to
talk to other people to get their advice. Sam decided to go to a
kennel where he bought a boxer/puppy that he knew he would like
to take home.
Stimuli: Example 1
Step 3: Add word meaning (LF) control
After she was robbed, Mary decided to buy an attack dog. Mary
wanted something to protect her so when she saw an ad for a
boxer/puppy/husky in the local paper, she bought it and
immediately felt much safer.
Sam’s pet died last week and he wanted a new companion. Sam
decided to go to a kennel where he bought a boxer/puppy/husky
that he knew he would like to take home.
Stimuli: Example 1
Step 4: New passage for counter-balancing
After she was robbed, Mary decided to buy an attack dog. Mary
wanted something to protect her so when she saw an ad for a
boxer/puppy/husky in the local paper, she bought it and
immediately felt much safer.
Sam’s pet died last week and he wanted a new companion. Sam
decided to go to a kennel where he bought a boxer/puppy/husky
that he knew he would like to take home.
“I don’t want a cat!” screamed Tara. Her parents were
devastated. How could they have been mistaken? She liked
dogs. They went out the next day and brought home a little
boxer/puppy/husky and hoped their Tara would approve.
Stimuli: Example 2
Step 1: Only Consistent versions
Colleen was tormented by her sins. She began to feel as if she
were losing control of her life. She did not want to feel worse than
she already did. She knelt down in the church after putting on
the habit/cross that all of the novices were required to wear within
the convent walls.
Although Peggy had a deep sense of faith she was troubled.
Recently, when she went to the doctor, he told her that her health
was deteriorating. She was extremely upset by the news. Peggy
decided to become a nun and wear a habit/cross in order to
symbolize her devotion to religious life.
Stimuli: Example 2
Step 2: Remove internal ‘filler’ sentences
Colleen was tormented by her sins. She began to feel as if she were
losing control of her life. She did not want to feel worse than she
already did. She knelt down in the church after putting on the
habit/cross that all of the novices were required to wear within the
convent walls.
Although Peggy had a deep sense of faith she was troubled.
Recently, when she went to the doctor, he told her that her health
was deteriorating. She was extremely upset by the news. Peggy
decided to become a nun and wear a habit/cross in order to
symbolize her devotion to religious life.
Stimuli: Example 2
Step 3: Add word meaning (LF) control
Colleen was tormented by her sins. She knelt down in the church
after putting on the habit/cross/shawl that all of the novices were
required to wear within the convent walls.
Although Peggy had a deep sense of faith she was troubled. Peggy
decided to become a nun and wear a habit/cross/shawl in order to
symbolize her devotion to religious life.
Stimuli: Example 2
Step 4: New passage for counter-balancing
Colleen was tormented by her sins. She knelt down in the church
after putting on the habit/cross/shawl that all of the novices were
required to wear within the convent walls.
Although Peggy had a deep sense of faith she was troubled. Peggy
decided to become a nun and wear a habit/cross/shawl in order to
symbolize her devotion to religious life.
The moon cast an eerie light as Sister Margaret hurried up the
unlit road. She had heard tales about the vampire. Although
she did not believe them, Sister Margaret was still cautious. So
when she was out alone at night, she wore her habit/cross/shawl
and carried a stake.
Sereno, O’Donnell, & Rayner:
Specifications
• Stimuli:
Dom = 90%
Sub = 6%
frequency
length
# items
Amb
65
4.96
24
HF(form)
64
4.96
24
LF(Sub)
5
4.92
24
• Subjects: 45
• Design:
–
–
–
–
3 passages for each matched set of 3 targets (x 24 sets = 72 total items)
Each subject saw all 3 targets, each in different passages
3 subject conditions by rotating 3 targets through 3 different passages
15 Ss in each of the 3 possible subject conditions
Amb
HF
LF
“target”
“spillover”
EM ambiguity conclusions – 1
• Ambiguous words (with prior context supporting the
 fast
weak, Sub sense) are simultaneously: HF forms
LF meanings  slow
• The present data do not provide clear support for either a
strong modular or strong interactive account.
– Both predict (for different reasons) increased difficulty than that observed.
• The present data support a hybrid model in which both
the prior context and meaning frequency of the
instantiated sense affect lexical access.
– Reordered Access Model (Duffy, Morris, & Rayner, 1988).
– 2-Stage Modular-Interactive (Potter, Moryadas, Abrams, & Noel, 1993)
– Independent Activation Model (Twilley & Dixon, 2000)
EM ambiguity conclusions – 2
• The dual nature of an ambiguous words means that the
characteristics of the control word need to be seriously
considered.
• A LF meaning control can cast light on the contextual
constraint of meaning activation.
• Bottom line: Future lexical ambiguity studies should use
both word-form (HF) & word-meaning (LF) controls.
Comparative EM & ERP studies
• Word frequency
(LF) rump
The sore on Tam-Tam’s
was swollen.
(HF) back
• Word frequency X Context
(Neutral context) To our surprise we saw a
(Biasing context) Flying to its nest was a
hawk.
(LF)
(Neutral context) She looked over the
(Biasing context) She read the new
book.
(HF)
(Sereno, Rayner, & Posner, NeuroReport, 1998)
(Sereno & Rayner, Perception & Psychophysics, 2000)
(Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell, Psychological Science, 2003)
More comparative EM & ERP studies
• Word frequency X Orthographic regularity
(LF-Reg) cask
Mike wasted the whole (LF-Exc) pint
(HF-Reg) week
(HF-Exc) hour
and then regretted it.
• Lexical ambiguity X Context
(Neutral context)
James peered over at the
(Biasing context) The mud was deep along the
bank.
(Sereno, Pacht, & Rayner, Psychological Science, 1992)
(Sereno, JEP: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1995)
(Sereno, Rayner, & Posner, NeuroReport, 1998)
(Sereno & Rayner, Perception & Psychophysics, 2000)
(Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell, Psychological Science, 2003)
(Sereno & Rayner, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2003)
EM models of ambiguity resolution
• Modified versions of Modular & Interactive models,
respectively, in which the alternative senses are initially
activated in order of their meaning frequency.
• Integration Model
(Rayner & Frazier, 1989)
(1) Ordered initial activation of alternative senses.
(2) Context only exerts post-lexical influence. Successful
integration of 1 sense automatically terminates any
incomplete access procedures.
• Reordered Access Model
(Duffy, Morris, & Rayner, 1988)
(1) Ordered activation of alternative meanings.
(2) Context can “boost” the activation of one of the
meanings, possibly reordering access procedures.
Measurement
• In order to specify when higher-level processes affect
lower-level processes, one needs to accurately measure
the processes of interest.
• In word recognition, perceptual and cognitive events
occur on the millisecond scale.
Ambiguity: “How early is context?”
• Interactive position
– Access is selective: Context guides access towards the
appropriate sense of an ambiguous word; while both senses
may be initially activated, only the contextually appropriate
sense is fully accessed.
• Modular position
– Access is exhaustive: All meanings of ambiguous words are
automatically accessed; context cannot directly affect lexical
processing, but instead operates on the output of the lexical
processor to select the appropriate sense.
Ambiguity: Cross-modal priming
• Paradigm:
Auditory context
Aud amb Visual
prime
target
“The building was infested with BUGS”
ANT
SPY
SEW
“and it…”
(Swinney, 1979)
• Results:
– In general, support the modularity of lexical
processing.
Ambiguity: ERP unimodal priming
• Paradigm:
– The only ERP ambiguity study employed a unimodal
(visual) version of the cross-modal paradigm (Van
Petten & Kutas, 1987).
– Measured ERPs to targets that followed presentation
of the ambiguous word prime.
• Results:
– Support an interactive account of lexical processing.
Ambiguity: EM “fast priming”
• Paradigm:
*-------------*----A big black rhn captured her attention.
PARAFOVEAL PREVIEW
----
*
A big black bug captured her attention.
“FAST PRIME” - 35 ms
*------------*----------------*
A big black ant captured her attention.
TARGET
– Measured fixation duration on targets that followed
presentation of the “fast” ambiguous word prime
across various context conditions ...
Ambiguity: EM “fast priming”
Appropriately Related prime
Unrelated prime
Priming
Effect
The little girl ...
A big black (log)ant ...
~30 ms
Dom
The little girl liked to observe insects.
A big black (bug)ant captured her attention.
Sub
Mary’s apartment is under surveillance.
Mary’s apartment ...
A foreign (bug)spy may be hiding out with her. A foreign (log)spy ...
n.s.
= == = = = = = ========= = = = = = ========= = = = = = ===
Inappropriately Related prime
Unrelated prime
Dom
Sub
Mary’s apartment is under surveillance.
A big black (bug)ant captured her attention.
Mary’s apartment ...
A big black (log)ant ...
The little girl liked to observe insects.
The little girl ...
A foreign (bug)spy may be hiding out with her. A foreign (log)spy ...
n.s.
n.s.
(Sereno, JEP: LMC, 1995)
Ambiguity: EM “fast priming”
• Results:
Support a modified interactive account of lexical
processing - “reordered access” - in which both
(1) meaning frequency (Dom vs. Sub)
(2) prior context
affect access speed. Specifically,
(1) Alternative meanings become activated in order of their
meaning frequency
(2) Context can “boost” the activation of one of the meanings,
possibly reordering access procedures
Ambiguity: EM normal reading
• Paradigm:
Ambiguous
(subordinate)
The mud was deep along the bank ...
LF
The mud was deep along the brim ...
HF
The mud was deep along the edge ...
• Results:
Fixation time:
“Spillover” time:
Amb = LF > HF
Amb > LF > HF
Support modified interactive account of access:
“reordered access”.
(Sereno, Pacht, & Rayner, Psych Sci, 1992)
Critique of methods:
Cross-modal priming
• RT (lexical decision, naming)
– Slow (500-900 ms) compared to speed of lexical
access (~100-200 ms); susceptible to response bias.
• Secondary (indirect) measure
– Effects of context on ambiguous word gauged by
priming effects on target downstream.
Critique of methods:
ERP unimodal priming
• Time-locked averages of the EEG
– Ms-by-ms voltage fluctuations reflect processing in
real time.
• Secondary (indirect) measure
– Effects of context on ambiguous word gauged by
priming effects on target downstream.
Critique of methods:
EM “fast priming”
• Fixation time
– Relatively fast (~375 ms) and on-line, but can reflect
lexical and post-lexical integration effects.
• Secondary (indirect) measure
– Although much quicker time course than cross-modal
or ERP unimodal, effects of context on ambiguous
word still gauged by priming effects on target
downstream
Critique of methods:
EM normal reading
• Fixation time
– Fast (~250 ms) and on-line, but can reflect lexical and
post-lexical integration effects.
• Primary (direct) measure
– Effects of context on ambiguous word gauged by
comparing its fixation time to control word.
ERP Ambiguity Experiment
• Biased ambiguous words were presented in neutral and biasing
contexts in a word-by-word sentence reading paradigm. Biasing
contexts always instantiated the subordinate sense.
• ERPs on the ambiguous words, themselves, were measured.
• ERPs to ambiguous words were then directly compared to ERPs to
unambiguous control words.
• Control words - matched either to the dominant (HF) sense of the
ambiguous word or to the contextually instantiated subordinate (LF)
sense of the ambiguous word - were presented in neutral and biasing
contexts.
• Comparisons across conditions were made at an early, lexical stage
of processing (N1, 132-192 ms).
Example Stimuli
Group 1
Group 2
Neutral
Biasing
LF
To our surprise we saw a hawk.
HF
She looked over the book.
Amb James peered over at the bank.
Biasing
Flying to its nest was a hawk.
She read the new book.
The mud was deep along the bank.
Neutral
LF
Pirates headed out to the cove.
They navigated through the cove.
HF
The pharmacist distributed the drug. Sally knew about the drug.
Amb They measured in terms of feet.
They counted the number of feet.
Scalp topography of the N1 @ 132-192 ms
SF1 loadings
Voltages
N1 @ 132-192 ms
N1 SF1 Scores
F
a
c
t
o
r
N1 Voltages
0.2
1.8
0.1
1.6
LF
HF
Amb
0
S
c
o -0.1
r
e
Neutral
Biasing
LF
HF
Amb
µV
1.4
1.2
Neutral
-0.2
Biasing
Context
Context
Factor scores for SF1
Voltages
(electrodes with SF1 loading > +0.7
or SF1 loading < -0.7)
(Sereno & Rayner, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2003)
Summary
• From the EM record, we can infer when lexical
processing should occur (~100-200 ms).
• From the ERP record, we can see when certain
differences first appear in real time.
• Effects of word frequency as well as context
initially appear very early in the ERP record (N1
@ 132 ms post-stimulus).
• We can begin to establish a realistic time-line of
word recognition in reading.
ERP Word Recognition
Stimuli
Words
LF
HF
Reg
cask
time
Exc
pint
hour
PseudoWords
Consonant Strings
welf
fhvr
Results
Lexicality
Frequency
Regularity
W vs PW vs CS
LF vs HF
LF Reg vs LF Exc
P1 @ 100-132 ms
N1 @ 132-164 ms
P2 @ 164-196 ms
(Sereno, Rayner, & Posner, NeuroReport, 1998)
Lexicality Effects:
P1 (100-132 ms)
CS-W
PW-W
CS-PW
p<
.001
.01
.05
.05
.01
.001
(Sereno, Rayner, & Posner, NeuroReport, 1998)
Frequency Effects:
N1 (132-164 ms)
LF-HF
LF words
HF words
1
µV
-1
ms
(Sereno, Rayner, & Posner, NeuroReport, 1998)
100
200
300
400
500
Regularity Effects:
P2 (164-196 ms)
LF Exc -LF Reg
Ss with RT effect
Ss with no RT effect
(Sereno, Rayner, & Posner, NeuroReport, 1998)
EYE MOVEMENTS
fixation
onset
visual
cortex
shift attention,
initiate EM
motor program
signal
to eye
initiate
muscles saccade
fixation
onset
modify EM
program
LEXICAL ACCESS
150



200
250
300
350
400
REGULARITY
100
FREQUENCY
50
LEXICALITY
0
P1
P300
V

N400



P2
N1
ERPs
N2
Scalp topography of the N1 @ 132-192 ms
SF1 loadings
Voltages
± 0.7 factor loading contours
(Sereno, Brewer, & O’Donnell, Psychologcial Science, 2003)
Emotion words
Arousal
Valence
+ ve
Lo
peace
Hi
love
– ve
bored
fire
Neutral controls: hotel, farm
Questions of interest:
• How fast are words recognised?
• What factors affect lexical access?
• How early do these factors operate?
Models
• Interactive vs. Modular
– Logogen (Morton, 1969)
– PDP (Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989)
• Read-out
– Search (Forster & Bendall, 19xx; )
• Hybrid
– 2-stage: generate candidate set  selection
– Becker & Killion, 19xx; Norris, 1984; Potter
Jokes
Q: Why are camels called “ships of the desert?”
A: Because they’re always filled with Arab sea-men.
Q: Would you prefer roses on your piano or
tulips on your organ?
Q: What’s the difference between a rolling stone
and a Scotsman?
A: A Rolling Stone says “Hey you get off of my cloud!”
and a Scotsman says “Hey McLeod get off my ewe!”
Q: Why is men’s ‘sea-men’ white and their urine yellow?
A: So they can tell if they’re coming or going.
Current Directions
• Emotion word processing
• Contextual constraint
ERP Ambiguity Experiment
• Design/Stimuli
6 experimental conditions:
Word Type
LF
HF
Amb
X
Context
Neutral
Biasing
Word specifications:
LF = 6 per million
HF = 60 per million
Amb = 63 per million (Dominant sense = 89 %
Subordinate sense = 9%)
Spatial Principal Components Analysis
• Sample-by-sample voltage data at all 129 electrodes
for all 14 Ss in all 6 conditions were submitted to a
spatial PCA with a Quartimax rotation (cf. Spencer,
Dien, & Donchin, 1998).
• The first Spatial Factor (SF1) accounted for a high
degree of the variance (44%).
• 3(Word Type) x 2(Context) ANOVA was performed on
the factor scores.