Inhibitory effects of first syllable-frequency in lexical decision: an event-related potential study

Electrophysiological correlates of the behaviorally well-documented inhibitory effect of first syllable-frequency during lexical access are presented. In a lexical decision task, response times to words with high-frequency first syllables were longer than those to words with low-frequency first syllables and resulted in more negative event-related potentials (ERPs) in an early time window from 190 ms to 280 ms and in the N400 component. The onset of the observed first syllable-frequency effect was prior to the onset of the effect of lexicality (i.e., the first reliable differentiation in ERP waveforms in response to words and pseudowords, a potential marker of lexical access). The present study's results support Barber et al.'s [Neuroreport 15 (2004) 545] notion of the prelexical nature of the first syllable-frequency effect by (A) providing evidence for electrophysiological correlates of first syllable-frequency in another, non-Romance orthography (i.e., German), (B) relating the onset of the first syllable-frequency effect to the onset of the lexicality effect and (C) strengthening this pattern of results by means of a novel item-based analysis of ERP data. Implications of the prelexical nature of the inhibitory first syllable-frequency effect for computational models of reading, specifically for Ans et al.'s [Psychol. Rev. 105 (1998) 678] multiple-trace memory (MTM) model of reading are discussed.

[1]  C. J. Álvarez,et al.  Syllable-frequency effect in visual word recognition:evidence of sequential-type processing , 2000 .

[2]  J Grainger,et al.  Orthographic processing in visual word recognition: a multiple read-out model. , 1996, Psychological review.

[3]  A Pollatsek,et al.  The effects of "neighborhood size" in reading and lexical decision. , 1999, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[4]  H. Barber,et al.  Syllable-frequency effects in visual word recognition: evidence from ERPs , 2004, Neuroreport.

[5]  R. H. Baayen,et al.  The CELEX Lexical Database (CD-ROM) , 1996 .

[6]  M. Kutas,et al.  Reading senseless sentences: brain potentials reflect semantic incongruity. , 1980, Science.

[7]  M. Carreiras,et al.  Effects of Syllable Frequency and Syllable Neighborhood Frequency in Visual Word Recognition , 1998 .

[8]  James L. McClelland,et al.  Understanding normal and impaired word reading: computational principles in quasi-regular domains. , 1996, Psychological review.

[9]  A. Jacobs,et al.  Replicating syllable frequency effects in Spanish in German: One more challenge to computational models of visual word recognition , 2004 .

[10]  M Coltheart,et al.  DRC: a dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. , 2001, Psychological review.

[11]  Manuela Carreiras,et al.  LA SÍLABA COMO UNIDAD DE ACTIVACIÓN LÉXICA EN LA LECTURA DE PALABRAS TRISÍLABAS , 1998 .

[12]  C. J. Álvarez,et al.  Syllables and morphemes: contrasting frequency effects in Spanish. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[13]  M. Kutas,et al.  Brain potentials during reading reflect word expectancy and semantic association , 1984, Nature.

[14]  J. Grainger,et al.  An Electrophysiological Study of the Effects of Orthographic Neighborhood Size on Printed Word Perception , 2002, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[15]  J. Kounios,et al.  Structure and process in semantic memory: evidence from event-related brain potentials and reaction times. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[16]  B. Ans,et al.  A connectionist multiple-trace memory model for polysyllabic word reading. , 1998, Psychological review.

[17]  A. Jacobs,et al.  Visual processing of lexical and sublexical units in dyslexia , 2003, Brain and Language.

[18]  C. J. Álvarez,et al.  Syllable Frequency and Visual Word Recognition in Spanish , 1993 .