Jul 2026· Frontiers in Language Sciences· Vol 5· 0 citations· 118 references
TL;DR
A large-scale single-subject experiment combining the word naming task with eye-tracking revealed a novel phenomenon, namely that when the lexical route is not functioning, response latencies increase, spoken word durations decrease, and the speaker likely resorted to naming with the non-lexical grapheme-to-phoneme naming route.
Abstract
This study reports a large-scale single-subject experiment combining the word naming task with eye-tracking. Response variables (first fixation duration, total fixation duration, number of fixations, word naming latency, and spoken word duration) were subjected to statistical analyses with generalized additive models (GAMs). We compared GAMs with classical lexical predictors such as word frequency and inflectional paradigm size with GAMs that were given predictors derived from computational implementations of the discriminative lexicon model (DLM) for the lexical route in the word naming task, using word embeddings to represent words' meanings. With the exception of word length, lexical measures and DLM-based measures were found not to predict initial fixation duration and total number of fixations. DLM-based measures were statistically well supported as predictors of total fixation duration, naming latency, and spoken word duration. GAMs with classical predictors provided more precise fits for the first two response variables, but a GAM with DLM-based predictors provided a superior fit to the spoken word durations. These results support the possibility that in the naming task, word meaning is involved. The GAMs for spoken word duration and response latency revealed a novel phenomenon, namely that when the lexical route is not functioning, due to the mapping from meaning to form being unsuccessful, response latencies increase, spoken word durations decrease, and the speaker likely resorted to naming with the non-lexical grapheme-to-phoneme naming route.
The current study developed, validated, and illustrated the advantage of a lexical decision database for MSA in three (virtual) experiments, and showed that the database largely replicates well-documented effects in visual word recognition (lexicality, word length, word frequency, word neighborhood size).
Alaa Alzahrani, Hassan Alshumrani, Wafa Aljuaythin et al.· Behavior Research Methods· 0 citations
"List as many words as you can that start with M." The verbal fluency (VF) task is simple, yet even a typical university student only manages to produce about 15 words within 1 min, and there is substantial variability around this mean. The present study examined how linguistic and domain-general abilities contributed to VF performance in a large sample of healthy adult native speakers of Dutch (N = 571). We assessed the effects of linguistic knowledge, processing speed, short-term/working memory, and fluid intelligence on performance in the VF task. To examine whether linguistic and domain-general abilities contribute differently across VF task types, we included semantic trials (category-based generation: animals, food) and phonemic trials (letter-based generation: words beginning with S or M). We assessed the total number of correct words produced and the time to first response. Mixed-effects modeling showed that linguistic knowledge predicted the total number of correct responses in both semantic and phonemic VF. Short-term/working memory and processing speed were also significant predictors, but with smaller estimated effect sizes. Time to first response showed little effect of linguistic skills. We discuss how linguistic knowledge shapes the structure of the mental lexicon such that it affects both meaning-driven and form-driven access to lexical items. In addition, we provide updated norms for VF performance in Dutch and practical suggestions for using the task. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Kyla McConnell, Berit Reise, Antje S Meyer· Journal of Experimental Psyc...· 0 citations
Word classes such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives are fundamental units of language, but their neural encoding remains unclear. Here, we investigate whether word classes are processed as invariant, context-independent lexical categories or depend on sentence context during language processing. We analyse source-localized magnetoencephalography (MEG) data from 200 native Dutch participants who read or listened to sentences and their scrambled counterparts (word lists) from the MOUS dataset. Time-resolved encoding models are used to predict neural responses from major word classes (noun, verb, adjective) and other linguistic variables including word frequency, surprisal, entropy, word length, and ordinal position. Across modalities, we observe a significant interaction between word class and context (sentences vs. word lists), manifest as dynamic modulation of neural responses in a widespread cortical network including bilateral perisylvian, frontal, and midline regions previously implicated in lexicosemantic, structural, and pragmatic processing. This interaction emerges early and reappears later in processing, with distinct temporal profiles for reading and listening. Within-condition effects reveal that word class contributes to neural responses at the level of individual words, but this contribution is context-dependent: it is robust in sentences across modalities and in word-list reading, but absent in auditory word lists. These results indicate that word-class encoding is shaped by the interaction between word-level properties and sentence context during real-time language processing.
PURPOSE
Characteristics of to-be-learned words influence word learning but are understudied in Mandarin-speaking children. The current study comprehensively investigated the effect of semantic head on word learning and examined the predictive role of verbal working memory and compound awareness.
METHOD
Fifty-nine children (Mage = 63.10 months) learned pseudo-disyllabic words with semantic head (WH words) and without semantic head (OH words). Learning was measured by four tasks (i.e., mispronunciation detection, referent identification, naming, and definition) immediately after training and by naming and definition tasks 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after training.
RESULTS
Better learning outcomes for WH words than OH words were only observed in forming phonological representations. Significant differences were not observed between WH and OH words at all three posttraining intervals. Substitution errors in naming WH words increased 1 month after training compared to earlier time points, suggesting an interference from the OH counterparts during offline consolidation. Compound awareness contributed to children's word-learning performance after accounting for the role of verbal working memory.
CONCLUSIONS
The availability of semantic head may have alleviated the processing demands of WH words initially. However, this facilitation did not persist into the retention stage. WH words were more susceptible to interference during offline consolidation, resulting in significant forgetting over longer term retention. The absence of a semantic head in OH words may have rendered them more distinctive, requiring increased cognitive effort and deeper processing and thereby resulting in relatively robust retention.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33049889.
Jiayu Yu, Li Sheng· Journal of Speech, Language...· 0 citations
This study explored how valence and modality affect emotional word recognition in unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals.
Two lexical decision tasks were used: a visual task (Study 1) and an auditory task (Study 2), conducted in either L1 or L2.
Data from 80 (Study 1) and 40 (Study 2) unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals living in an L1-majority country were analyzed using repeated-measure ANOVAs with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests. In both studies, performance was assessed through discrimination (d’), bias (C), and reaction times.
Results revealed positive words were recognized more accurately and quickly, reflecting a positivity advantage. L1 groups showed better discrimination and fewer false alarms than L2, suggesting more efficient processing. Modality effects varied: L1 participants responded faster to positive pseudowords visually, while L2 participants were more sensitive to emotional pseudowords auditorily.
This study is the first to directly compare valence effects across visual and auditory modalities in unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals using parallel lexical decision paradigms, providing novel evidence on how emotional processing differs between L1 and L2.
These findings support the density hypothesis, suggesting that positive words benefit from higher semantic cohesion. A stronger liberal bias for emotional words in L2 may reflect compensatory strategies under lexical uncertainty.
findings underscore the interplay of language proficiency, modality, and emotion in bilingual lexical access, with implications for bilingual education, cognitive assessments, and emotional processing research.
Leticia Sarli, P. Barttfeld, N. Justel· International Journal of Bil...· 0 citations
Previous evidence has shown an important role for semantic diversity in visual word recognition. These results are theoretically relevant, as they suggest that it is not only the mere repetition of word reading (lexical frequency) but also the semantic context in which words are encountered that affects lexical representation of words. In this study, we assess the role of semantic diversity by applying latent semantic analysis to a Spanish database, deriving word values for semantic diversity. Children and adults performed a lexical decision task to 300 words with different values of this variable while controlling the frequency, age of acquisition, and letter length. The results indicate that adults and children respond faster to words with high semantic diversity than those with lower semantic diversity. These results obtained for the first time in Spanish are consistent with previous findings and support the view that the semantic contexts in which words appear contribute to their lexical representations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Miguel Lázaro, Seila García, Guillermo Jorge-Botana et al.· Canadian journal of experime...· 0 citations
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