Phonological encoding in English language production Anna Cecylia O'Reilly

284 Pages·2014·1.34 MB·English

Word reading and picture naming: Phonological
encoding in English language production

Anna Cecylia O’Reilly

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of
the University of East London for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy

December 2013

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Abstract

In Roelofs‟ (2004) form preparation study examining processes involved in both word
reading and picture naming, he concluded that phonological encoding mechanisms
might be shared for the two tasks. Importantly, in his earlier form preparation research
Roelofs (1999) argued that phonemic features are not involved during phonological
encoding and indeed, most current models of general language production such as
Word-form Encoding by Activation and VERification (WEAVER, e.g., Roelofs, 1997a)
account for the role of phonemic features once the phonological encoding process has
been completed. However, whilst Kinoshita‟s (2000) re-interpretation of the locus of the
masked onset priming effect (MOPE) implies an encoding process for word reading that
is similar to that incorporated into WEAVER (e.g., Roelofs, 1997a) and by extension to
picture naming, Lukatela, Eaton and Turvey‟s (2001) results suggest that features may
well be involved in the word reading processes. The main purpose of the research
undertaken within this thesis was to evaluate phonological encoding for both word
reading and picture naming to assess the validity of Roelofs‟ (2004) claims. This was
conducted with the employment of the masked priming paradigm as well as the masked
sandwich priming paradigm and by the manipulation of phonemic feature overlap in
both the initial and end/coda segment position of primes and monosyllabic targets.
From the cumulative results of this research, the notion that encoding mechanisms
might be shared between these two tasks could not be ruled out. Importantly, phonemic
feature effects were consistently observed across both word reading (with lexical
primes) and picture naming. Controversially, these particular findings suggest that
conventional thinking is misguided to ignore the role of phonemic features during the
phonological encoding process.
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CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Introduction, outline and models of general language
production & word reading
1.1. Introduction ………..……………………………...……….……………………… 1
1.2. Outline ……………………………………………...……………………………... 6
1.3. Models of general language production ……………...…………………………… 7
1.3.1. Segmental models ……………………………………………………….. 7
1.3.1.1. Dell‟s (1986) model..………………………………………….… 7
1.3.1.2. Word-form Encoding by Activation and VERification
(WEAVER; Levelt, Roelofs & Meyer, 1999; Roelofs, 1992, 1996b,
. 1997a, 1997b) model ……………………………...…………………… 14
1.3.2. Feature based model ………………………………...…………………. 20
1.3.2.1. Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP; Dell, Juliano &
Govindjee, 1993) model……………………………............................. 20
1.4. Word reading models ……………………………………………...…………….. 27
1.4.1. Segmental models ……………………………………………………… 27
1.4.1.1. Dual Route Cascaded (DRC; Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon
& Ziegler, 2001) model……………………………………...………... 27
1.4.1.2. Connectionist Dual Processing (CDP+; Perry, Ziegler & Zorzi,
2007) model …………………………………………………...……… 36
1.4.1.3. Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP; Plaut, McClelland,
Seidenberg & Patterson, 1996) model …………………………......…. 43
1.5. Conclusions …………………………………………………………………....… 49
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Chapter 2. A critical review of masked priming research
2.1. Chapter overview ………………………………………………………………… 50
2.2. Masked priming paradigm ……………………………………………………….. 52
2.2.1. General procedure ………………………………...…………………… 52
2.2.2. The lexical entry opening account of masked priming ……...………… 53
2.2.3. Evidence against the lexical entry opening account …………...………. 56
2.2.4. Episodic memory versus an automatic and subconsciously driven
account of masked priming effects – evidence for the latter explanation…..… 60
2.2.5. Grainger and Ferrand‟s (1996) account of masked priming effects ...…. 63
2.2.6. The masked onset priming effect (MOPE) …………………………….. 69
2.2.7. Kinoshita‟s (2000) re-interpretation of the locus of the MOPE ……...... 75
2.2.8. Schiller‟s (2004, 2008) masked priming research ……………………... 83
2.2.9. The role of phonemic feature similarity ……………………...……...… 88
2.3. Conclusions …………………………………………………………………….... 92

Chapter 3. General method
3.1. Overview ………………………………………………………...……………..... 94
3.2. Participants ………………………………………………………...…………...... 94
3.3. Design ………………………………………………………………...………….. 95
3.4. Stimuli …………………………………………………………………...………. 98
3.5. Procedure …………………………………………………………………......… 102
3.6. Analysis …………………………………………………………………...…..... 105

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Chapter 4. Masked priming effects when manipulating phonemic
features in the initial segment position of monosyllabic words and
pictures
4.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………...……………... 107
4.2. Experiment 1 – Single segment onset primes …………………………………... 110
4.2.1. Introduction ………………………………………………...………… 110
4.2.2. Method ………………………………………………………………... 111
4.2.2.1. Participants ……………………………………………...….. 112
4.2.2.2. Design & Stimuli…………………………………………..... 112
4.2.2.3. Procedure …………………………………………………… 113
4.2.3. Results …………………………………………………………...…… 114
4.2.4. Discussion …………………………………………………………….. 116
4.3. Experiment 2 – Word primes ………………………………………………...… 118
4.3.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………... 118
4.3.2. Method ………………………………………………………………... 120
4.3.2.1. Participants …………………………………………………. 120
4.3.2.2. Design & Stimuli ………………………………………........ 121
4.3.2.3. Procedure ………………………………………………….... 122
4.3.3. Results ……………………………………………………………...… 123
4.3.4. Discussion …………………………………………………………….. 125
4.4. Experiment 3 – Non-word primes …………………………………………….... 130
4.4.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………... 130
4.4.2. Method ………………………………………………………………... 132
4.4.2.1. Participants …………………………………………………. 132
4.4.2.2. Design & Stimuli ………………………………………….... 132
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4.4.2.3. Procedure ………………………………………………….... 134
4.4.3. Results ……………………………………………………………....... 134
4.4.4. Discussion ……………………………………………………………. 137
4.5. General discussion ……………………………………………………………… 138

Chapter 5. Masked priming effects when manipulating phonemic
features in the end/coda segment position of monosyllabic words and
pictures
5.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………...... 149
5.2. Experiment 4 – Single segment coda primes ………………………………....... 153
5.2.1. Introduction ………………………………………………………...… 153
5.2.2. Method …………………………………………………………......… 156
5.2.2.1. Participants …………………………………………………. 156
5.2.2.2. Design & Stimuli ………………………………………….... 156
5.2.2.3. Procedure …………………………………………………… 157
5.2.3. Results ……………………………………………………………...… 158
5.2.4. Discussion ……………………………………………………………. 160
5.3. Experiment 5 – Word primes …………...……………………………….……... 162
5.3.1. Introduction ………………………………………………………....... 162
5.3.2. Method ………………………………………...……………………… 165
5.3.2.1. Participants …………………………………………….….... 165
5.3.2.2. Design & Stimuli …………………………………………… 165
5.3.2.3. Procedure …………………………………………………… 166
5.3.3. Results ………………………………………………………………... 167
5.3.4. Discussion ……………………………………………………………. 169
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5.4. Experiment 6 – Non-word primes ……………………………………………… 171
5.4.1. Introduction ………………………………………………………...… 171
5.4.2. Method …………………………………………………...…………… 173
5.4.2.1. Participants …………………………………………………. 173
5.4.2.2. Design & Stimuli ………………………………………….... 173
5.4.2.3. Procedure ………………………………………………….... 174
5.4.3. Results ……………………………………………………………...… 175
5.4.4. Discussion ……………………………………………………………. 176
5.5. General discussion ……………………………………………………………… 177

Chapter 6. Masked sandwich priming effects when manipulating
phonemic feature similarity in the initial and end/coda segment
positions of non-word primes with both word and picture targets
6.1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………...…... 182
6.2. Experiment 7 – Manipulation of phonemic feature overlap in the initial segment
position of non-word primes with both word and picture targets ………………...… 185
6.2.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………... 185
6.2.2. Method ……………………………………………………...………… 188
6.2.2.1. Participants …………………………………………………. 188
6.2.2.2. Design ………………………………………………………. 188
6.2.2.3. Stimuli ……………………………………………………… 188
6.2.2.4. Procedure ………………………………………………….... 189
6.2.3. Results ……………………………………………………………...… 189
6.2.4. Discussion …………………………………………………………….. 192
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6.3. Experiment 8 – Manipulation of phonemic feature overlap in the coda segment
position of non-word primes with both word and picture targets ……………...….... 198
6.3.1. Introduction ………………………………………………………...… 198
6.3.2. Method …………………………………………………………......… 201
6.3.2.1. Participants …………………………………………………. 201
6.3.2.2. Design ………………………………………………………. 201
6.3.2.3. Stimuli …………………………………………………….... 201
6.3.2.4. Procedure ………………………………………………….... 202
6.3.4. Results ……………………………………………………………...… 202
6.3.5. Discussion …………………………………………………………….. 204
6.4. General discussion ……………………………………………………………… 205

Chapter 7. Aims revisited, summary of findings, future directions and
conclusions
7.1. Chapter outline ………………………………………………………...……….. 211
7.2. Aims revisited …………………………...……………………………………… 211
7.3. Summary of findings …………………………………………………………… 214
7.3.1. Experiments 1 to 3 ……………………………………………………. 214
7.3.2. Experiments 4 to 6 ……………………………………………………. 216
7.3.3. Experiments 7 and 8 ………………………………………………….. 217
7.4. The data from Experiments 1 – 8 and phonological encoding …………………. 220
7.4.1. The word reading data from Experiments 1 to 8 and phonological
encoding ………………………………………………………………......… 220
7.4.2. The picture naming data from Experiments 1 to 8 and phonological
encoding…………………………………………………………………...… 231
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7.5. The notion of shared phonological encoding mechanisms for both word reading and
picture naming ………………………………………………………………………. 239
7.6. Future research …………………………………………………………………. 242
7.7. Conclusions ………………………………………………………………......… 246

References ………………………………………………………………………... 249

Appendices
Appendix A – An example of a consent form and participants‟ instructions ……..... 257
Appendix B – Stimuli used in Experiment 1 …………………………………….…. 262
Appendix C – Stimuli used in Experiment 2 ……………………………………….. 264
Appendix D – Stimuli used in Experiments 3 & 7 …………………………………. 266
Appendix E – Stimuli used in Experiment 4 ……………………………………….. 268
Appendix F – Stimuli used in Experiment 5 ……………………………………….. 270
Appendix G – Stimuli used in Experiments 6 & 8 …………………………………. 271

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Means for the control variables of the single segment onset primes in the
Identical, Feature and Unrelated conditions of Experiment 1 ………………...…….. 113

Table 2 Mean Naming Latencies (RT, in Milliseconds), Standard Deviations (SD),
Percentage Errors (%E) and Mean Priming Effects (PE, in Milliseconds) for both word
reading and picture naming in all four priming conditions for Experiment 1……...... 114

Table 3 Means for the control variables of the word primes in the Identical, Feature and
Unrelated conditions of Experiment 2 ………………………………………………. 122

Table 4 Mean Naming Latencies (RT, in Milliseconds), Standard Deviations (SD),
Percentage Errors (%E) and Mean Priming Effects (PE, in Milliseconds) for both word
reading and picture naming in all four priming conditions for Experiment 2.....……. 123

Table 5 Means for the Control Variables of the non-word primes in the Identical,
Feature and Unrelated conditions of Experiment 3 …………………………………. 133

Table 6 Mean Naming Latencies (RT, in Milliseconds), Standard Deviations (SD),
Percentage Errors (%E) and Mean Priming Effects (PE, in Milliseconds) for both word
reading and picture naming in all four priming conditions for Experiment 3……..… 135

Table 7 Means for the control variables of the single segment coda primes in the
Identical, Feature and Unrelated conditions of Experiment 4 …………………….… 157
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