| 1. |
- Blomberg, Frida, et al.
(author)
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Emotional arousal and lexical specificity modulate response times differently depending on ear of presentation in a dichotic listening task
- 2015
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In: The Mental Lexicon. - : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 1871-1340 .- 1871-1375. ; 10:2, s. 221-246
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigated possible hemispheric differences in the processing of four different lexical semantic categories: SPECIFIC (e.g. bird), GENERAL (e.g. animal), ABSTRACT (e.g. advice), and EMOTIONAL (e.g. love). These wordtypes were compared using a dichotic listening paradigm and a semantic category classification task. Response times (RTs) were measured when participants classified testwords as concrete or abstract. In line with previous findings, words were expected to be processed faster following right-ear presentation. However, lexical specificity and emotional arousal were predicted to modulate response times differently depending on the ear of presentation. For left-ear presentation, relatively faster RTs were predicted for SPECIFIC and EMOTIONAL words as opposed to GENERAL and ABSTRACT words. An interaction of ear and wordtype was found. For right-ear presentation, RTs increased as testwords’ imageability decreased along the span SPECIFIC–GENERAL–EMOTIONAL–ABSTRACT. In contrast, for left ear presentation, EMOTIONAL words were processed fastest, while SPECIFIC words gave rise to long RTs on par with those for ABSTRACT words. Thus, the prediction for EMOTIONAL words presented in the left ear was borne out, whereas the prediction for SPECIFIC words was not. This might be related to previously found differences in processing of stimuli at a global or local level.
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| 2. |
- Blomberg, Frida, et al.
(author)
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The role of affective meaning, semantic associates, and orthographic neighbours in modulating the N400 in single words
- 2020
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In: The Mental Lexicon. - : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 1871-1340 .- 1871-1375. ; 15:2, s. 161-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The N400 has been seen to be larger for concrete than abstract words, and for pseudowords than real words. Using a word vector analysis to calculate semantic associates (SA), as well as ratings for emotional arousal (EA), and a measure of orthographic neighbourhood (ON), the present study investigated the relation between these factors and N400 amplitudes during a lexical decision task using Swedish word stimuli. Four noun categories differing in concreteness: specific (squirrel), GENERAL (animal) emotional (happiness) and abstract (tendency) were compared with pseudowords (danalod). Results showed that N400 amplitudes increased in the order emotional < abstract < GENERAL < specific < PSEUDOWORD. A regression analysis showed that the amplitude of the N400 decreased the more semantic associates a word had and the higher the rating for emotional arousal it had. The N400 also increased the more orthographic neighbours a word had. Results provide support for the hierarchical organisation of concrete words assumed in lexical semantics. They also demonstrate how affective information facilitates meaning processing.
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| 3. |
- Hed, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Neural correlates of second language acquisition of tone-grammar associations
- 2019
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In: Mental Lexicon. - : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 1871-1340 .- 1871-1375. ; 14:1, s. 98-123
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Native speakers of Swedish use tones on stems to predict which suffix is to follow. This is seen behaviorally in reduced response times for matching tone-suffix pairs. Neurophysiologically, online prediction is reflected in the event-related potential (ERP) component pre-activation negativity (PrAN) occurring for tones with a higher predictive value. Invalid suffixes relative to the tone produce a left anterior negativity (LAN), or a broadly distributed negativity, and a P600. When native speakers make decisions about the inflection of words, response times are also longer for invalid tone-suffix combinations. In this study, low to intermediate level second language learners with non-tonal native languages trained tone-suffix associations for two weeks. Before and after training, they participated in a perception test where they listened to nouns with valid and invalid tone-suffix combinations and performed a singular/plural judgment task. During the test, electroencephalography (EEG) and response times were measured. After training, the PrAN effect increased, and a LAN emerged for invalid stimuli, indicating that the participants had acquired the tone-suffix association, using the tones as predictors more extensively post-training. However, neither a P600 nor longer response times for invalidity were found, suggesting potential differences in native and second language processing of the tone-suffix association.
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| 4. |
- Paradis, Carita, et al.
(author)
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Good and bad opposites: using textual and experimental techniques to measure antonym canonicity
- 2009
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In: The Mental Lexicon. - : John Benjamins. - 1871-1340 .- 1871-1375. ; , s. 380-429
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The goal of this paper is to combine corpus methodology with experimental methods to gain insights into the nature of antonymy as a lexico-semantic relation and the degree of antonymic canonicity of word pairs in language and in memory. Two approaches to antonymy in language are contrasted, the lexical categorical model and the cognitive prototype model. The results of the investigation support the latter model and show that different pairings have different levels of lexico-semantic affinity. At this general level of categorization, empirical methods converge; however, since they measure slightly different aspect of lexico- semantic opposability and affinity, and since the techniques of investigation are different in nature, we obtain slightly conflicting results at the more specific levels. We conclude that some antonym pairs can be diagnosed as “canonical” on the strength of three indicators: textual co-occurrence, individual judgement about “goodness” of opposition, and elicitation evidence.
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| 5. |
- Schremm, Andrea, et al.
(author)
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Implicit acquisition of tone-suffix connections in L2 learners of Swedish
- 2016
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In: The Mental Lexicon. - : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 1871-1340 .- 1871-1375. ; 11:1, s. 55-75
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Swedish native speakers (NSs) unconsciously use tones realized on word stems to predict upcoming suffixes during speech comprehension. The present response time study investigated whether relatively proficient second language (L2) learners of Swedish have acquired the underlying association between tones and suffixes without explicit instruction, internalizing a feature that is specific to their L2. Learners listened to sentences in which the tone on the verb stem either validly or invalidly cued the following present or past tense inflection. Invalidly cued suffixes led to increased decision latencies in a verb tense identification task, suggesting that learners pre-activated suffixes associated with stem tones in a manner similar to NSs. Thus, L2 learners seemed to have acquired the tone-suffix connections through implicit mechanisms. Correctly cued suffixes were associated with a smaller processing advantage in the L2 group relative to NSs performing the same task; nevertheless, results suggest a tendency for increasingly native-like tone processing with cumulative language experience. The way suffix type affected response times also indicates exposure-related effects.
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| 6. |
- Söderström, Pelle, et al.
(author)
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Processing morphologically conditioned word accents
- 2012
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In: The Mental Lexicon. - 1871-1340. ; 7, s. 77-89
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present response time study investigated the influence Central Swedish word accents have on the interpretation of inflectional morphology. Effects of stem tone match/mismatch on the interpretation of Swedish present and past tense suffixes were tested. Both Accent 1 and Accent 2 were found to influence listeners' response times related to decisions on verb tense. It thus seems that both word accents can facilitate online interpretation of words. Previous studies where tasks have not required suffix interpretation have only found an effect of Accent 1 patterns on Accent 2-associated suffixes. Accent 2 suffixes further yielded generally greater response times than Accent 1-associated suffixes. Different possible explanations for this are discussed.
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