Showing papers in "Memory & Cognition in 1987"

Surface and structural similarity in analogical transfer

Abstract: Two experiments investigated factors that influence the retrieval and use of analogies in problem solving, Experiment 1 demonstrated substantial spontaneous analogical transfer with a delay of several days between presentation of the source and target analogues. Experiment 2 examined the influence of different types of similarity between the analogues. A mechanism for retrieval of source analogues is proposed, based on summation of activation from features shared with a target problem. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that both structural features, which play a causal role in determining possible problem solutions, and salient surface features, which do not have a causal role, influence spontaneous selection of an analogue. Structural features, however, have a greater impact than do surface features on a problem solver’s ability to use an analogue once its relevance has been pointed out.

A ROWS is a ROSE: Spelling, sound, and reading

Abstract: Skilled readers generally are assumed to make little or no use of words’ phonological features in visual word identification. Contrary to this assumption, college students’ performance in the present reading experiments showed large effects of stimulus word phonology. In Experiments 1 and 2, these subjects produced larger false positive error rates in a semantic categorization task when they responded to stimulus foils that were homophonic to category exemplars (e.g., ROWS for the category A FLOWER) than when they responded to spelling control foils. Additionally, in Experiment 2, this homophony effect was found under brief-exposure pattern-masking conditions, a result consistent with the possibility that phonology is an early source of constraint in word identification. Subjects did, however, correctly reject most homophone foils in Experiments 1 and 2. Experiment 3 investigated the source of this ability. The results of Experiment 3 suggest that subjects detected homophone impostors, such as ROWS, by verifying target foil spellings against their knowledge of the correct spellings of category exemplars, such as ROSE.

Intuition in insight and noninsight problem solving.

Abstract: People’s metacognitions, both before and during problem solving, may be of importance in motivating and guiding problem-solving behavior. These metacognitions could also be diagnostic for distinguishing among different classes of problems, each perhaps controlled by different cognitive processes. In the present experiments, intuitions on classic insight problems were compared with those on noninsight and algebra problems. The findings were as follows: (1) subjective feeling of knowing predicted performance on algebra problems but not on insight problems; (2) subjects’ expectations of performance greatly exceeded their actual performance, especially on insight problems; (3) normative predictions provided a better estimate of individual performance than did subjects’ own predictions, especially on the insight problems; and, most importantly, (4) the patterns-of-warmth ratings, which reflect subjects’ feelings of approaching solution, differed for insight and noninsight problems. Algebra problems and noninsight problems showed a more incremental pattern over the course of solving than did insight problems. In general, then, the data indicated that noninsight problems were open to accurate predictions of performance, whereas insight problems were opaque to such predictions. Also, the phenomenology of insight-problem solution was characterized by a sudden, unforeseen flash of illumination. We propose that the difference in phenomenology accompanying insight and noninsight problem solving, as empirically demonstrated here, be used to define insight.

Effects of varying modality, surface features, and retention interval on priming in word-fragment completion.

Abstract: Subjects in Experiment i studied a list of words under varying presentation conditions (visual or auditory) and in two typographies within the visual condition (typed or hand printed) and then received a word-fragment completion test (e.g., —YS—E—Y formystery) in which the test cues also varied in typography. The main findings were that (1) priming occurred for all study items, relative to nonstudied items, but greater priming occurred for visual than for auditory presentation, and (2) performance in the visual conditions was better when typographies matched between study and test than when the typographies mismatched, but only for words studied in hand-printed form. These findings were generally replicated when the test was delayed 1 week, although priming declined across this retention interval (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3 subjects studied words that were either in focus or blurred and showed greater priming when test fragments were presented in the same manner as at study. Priming in the word-fragment completion task depends on matching surface characteristics of items between study and test and exemplifies the requirement of performing similar mental operations at study and test for maximizing performance (transfer-appropriate processing).

Inheritance of attributes in natural concept conjunctions

Abstract: Attributes defining pairs of concepts (e.g., SPORTS-GAMES) and their conjunctions (e.g., SPORTS THAT ARE ALSO GAMES) were generated and rated for their importance for defining each concept and conjunction. The results support a model in which a composite prototype for the conjunction is formed as the union of the constituent attribute sets, subject to two constraints: (1) attributes must have a sufficiently high average importance across the two concepts, and (2) necessity and impossibility of attributes is always inherited. In regression analyses, those concepts identified by Hampton (1985b) as being dominant in determining item typicality in conjunctions were again dominant in determining attribute importance and also had greater numbers of important attributes. There was limited evidence of noncompositionality for familiar concept conjunctions. Finally, degree of conflict between the attributes of one concept and those of the other had an independent effect on attribute importance for conjunctions.

First in, first out: word learning age and spoken word frequency as predictors of word familiarity and word naming latency.

Abstract: This study is concerned with recent claims that subjective measures of word frequency are more suitable than are standard word frequency counts as indices of actual frequency of word encounter. A multiple regression study is reported, which shows that the major predictor of familiarity ratings is word learning age. Objective measures of spoken and written word frequency made independent contributions to the variance. It is concluded that rated familiarity is not an appropriate substitute for objective frequency measures. A multiple regression study of word naming latency is reported, and shows that rated word learning age is a better predictor of word naming latency than are spoken word frequency, written word frequency, rated familiarity, and other variables. Possible theoretical explanations for age-of-acquisition effects are discussed and it is concluded that early-learned words have a more complete representation in a phonological output lexicon. This conclusion is related to relevant developmental literature.

Altering retrieval demands reverses the picture superiority effect.

Abstract: In Experiment 1 subjects studied a mixed list of pictures and words and then received either a free recall test or a word fragment completion test (e.g.,_yr_mi_forpyramid) on which some fragments corresponded to previously studied items. Free recall of pictures was better than that of words. However, words produced greater priming than did pictures on the fragment completion test, although a small amount of picture priming did occur. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the picture priming was not due to implicit naming of the pictures during study. In Experiment 4 subjects studied words and pictures and received either the word fragment completion test or a picture fragment identification test in which they had to name degraded pictures. Greater priming was obtained with words in word fragment completion, but greater priming was obtained with pictures on the picture identification test. We conclude that (1) the type of retrieval query determines whether pictures or words will exhibit superior retention, and (2)our results conform to the principle of transfer appropriate processing by which performance on transfer or retention tests benefits to the extent that the tests recapitulate operations used during learning.

Inexpert calibration of comprehension

Abstract: Students with a wide range of course work in physics or music theory read expositions in both domains. After reading 16 texts, each student provided a judgment of confidence in his/her ability to verify inferences based on the central principles of the texts. The primary dependent variable was calibration of comprehension, the degree of association between confidence and performance on the inference test. Two results of most interest were that (1) expertise in a domain was inversely related to calibration and (2) subjects were well calibrated across domains. Both of these results can be accommodated by a self-classification strategy: Confidence judgments are based on self-classification as expert or nonexpert in the domain of the text, rather than on an assessment of the degree to which the text was comprehended. Because self-classifications are not well differentiated within a domain, application of the strategy by experts produces poor calibration within a domain. Nonetheless, because self-classification is generally consistent with performance across domains, application of the strategy produces calibration across domains.

Organization in autobiographical memory.

Abstract: Three experiments investigated timed autobiographical memory retrieval to cue words and phrases. In the first experiment, subjects retrieved memories to cues that named semantic category members and were primed with the superordinate category name or with a neutral word. No prime effects were observed. In the second experiment, subjects retrieved memories to primed and unprimed semantic category cues and to personal primes and personal history cues. Personal primes named lifetime periods (e.g., “school days”) and personal history cues named general events occurring in those lifetime periods for each subject (e.g., “holiday in Italy”). Only personal primes were found to significantly facilitate memory retrieval. A third experiment replicated this finding and also failed to find any prime effects to primes and cues naming activities not directly related to an individual’s personal history. In this experiment, characteristics of recalled events (e.g,, personal importance, frequency of rehearsal, pleasantness, and specificity of the memory) were found to be strongly associated with memories retrieved to personal cues and only mildly associated with memories retrieved to other types of cues. These findings suggest that one way in which autobiographical memories may be organized is in terms of a hierarchically structured abstracted personal history.

Phonological coding in word reading: evidence from hearing and deaf readers.

Abstract: The ability of prelingually, profoundly deaf readers to access phonological information during reading was investigated in three experiments. The experiments employed a task, developed by Meyer, Schvaneveldt, and Ruddy (1974), in which lexical decision response times (RTs) to orthographically similar rhyming (e.g., WAVE-SAVE) and nortrhyming (e.g., HAVE-CAVE) word pairs were compared with RTs to orthographically and phonologically dissimilar control word pairs. The subjects of the study were deaf college students and hearing college students. In Experiments 1 and 2, in which the nonwords were pronounceable, the deaf subjects, like the hearing subjects, were facilitated in their RTs to rhyming pairs, but not to nonrhyming pairs. In Experiment 3, in which the nonwords were unpronounceable, both deaf and hearing subjects were facilitated in their RTs to both rhyming and nonrhyming pairs, with the facilitation being significantly greater for the rhyming pairs. These results indicate that access to phonological information is possible despite prelingual and profound hearing impairment. As such, they run counter to claims that deaf individuals are limited to the use of visual strategies in reading. Given the impoverished auditory, experience of such readers, these results suggest that the use of phonological information need not be tied to the auditory modality.

Effects of topic knowledge on the allocation of processing time and cognitive effort to writing processes.

Abstract: Conditions of low and high knowledge about the topic of a writing task were compared in terms of the time and cognitive effort allocated to writing processes These processes were planning ideas, translating ideas into text, and reviewing ideas and text during document composition Directed retrospection provided estimates of the time devoted to each process, and secondary task reaction times indexed the cognitive effort expended Topic knowledge was manipulated by selecting subjects in Experiment 1 and by selecting topics in Experiment 2 The retrospection results indicated that both low- and high-knowledge writers intermixed planning, translating, and reviewing during all phases of composing There was no evidence that low- and high-knowledge writers adopt different strategies for allocating processing time About 50% of writing time was devoted to translating throughout composition From early to later phases of composing, the percentage of time devoted to planning decreased and that devoted to reviewing increased The secondary task results showed that the degree of cognitive effort devoted to planning, translating, and reviewing depended on the task Also, the high-knowledge writers expended less effort overall than did the low-knowledge writers; there was no difference in allocation strategy across planning, translating, and reviewing

Lexical contribution to nonword-repetition effects: Evidence from event-related potentials

Abstract: Two experiments investigated the modulation of event-related potentials (ERPs) by the repetition of orthographically legal and illegal nonwords. In Experiment 1, subjects silently counted occasional words against a background of nonwords, a proportion of which were repetitions of an immediately preceding legal or illegal item. ERPs to repeated legal items showed a sustained, topographically diffuse, positive-going shift. In contrast, repeated illegal nonwords gave rise to ERPs showing a smaller and temporally more restricted positive-going modulation. In an attempt to equalize depth of processing across legal and illegal nonwords, subjects in Experiment 2 were required to count items containing a nonalphabetic character against the same background of nonword items. ERPs to repeated legal items showed a modulation similar to, although smaller than, that found in Experiment I, but no effects of repetition were observed in the ERPs to the illegal nonwords. It was concluded that the effects of repeating nonwords, at least as manifested in concurrently recorded ERPs, differ as a consequence of whether items can access lexical memory, and that this is inconsistent with the attribution of such effects solely to the operation of episodic memory processes.

The role of causal connections in the retrieval of text

Abstract: In two experiments, subjects read a series of passages, each containing two target concepts that appeared in widely separated positions within the passage. Following each passage, the time to retrieve each of these concepts was recorded. Several measures from both the Kintsch and van Dijk (1978) model and Trabasso and Sperry’s (1985) causal analysis were derived to predict retrieval time. Regression analyses showed that substantial proportions of variance were accounted for by measures derived from a causal analysis. Neither physical position nor measures based on the Kintsch and van Dijk model accounted for significant proportions of variance. Following Experiment 2, a reanalysis of O’Brien’s (1987) results revealed that the number of causal connections to an antecedent was a significant predictor of antecedent search time. Results are discussed in terms of a spread of activation through an integrated text representation in which causal connections play a major role.

Analytic and holistic modes of learning family-resemblance concepts.

Abstract: Three studies examined how individuals learn concepts structured according to family-resemblance principles The materials were cartoon faces varying in the attributes of hair, mustache, ears, and nose In contrast to previous studies purporting to show holistic modes of learning family-resemblance concepts, the present studies indicate that many individuals learn such concepts by an analytic, attribute-plus-exception rule The attribute-plus-exception rule characterized the learning shown by adults under both intentional (Studies 1 and 2) and incidental (Study 3) learning conditions and by children under intentional learning conditions (Study 2) There was no evidence to indicate that a holistic mode is a more primitive one, since it did not occur more frequently among children or adults under incidental learning conditions It is suggested that the extent to which holistic or analytic modes of learning are observed will be found to depend on an interaction among stimulus, task, and observer factors

Visual representation in analogical problem solving.

Abstract: Analogical reasoning has been shown to be effective in the process of solving Dunker’s radiation problem. The spatial nature of the solution to this problem suggests that a visually represented analogue should be particularly effective. However, recent work seems to indicate that a visual analogue does not assist in solving the radiation problem. This paper reports a detailed experimental analysis of the effectiveness of visually represented analogues to the radiation problem. The results show that visual analogues can be effective ff they represent the appropriate features of the problem-solution relationship. The paper also reports on the use of an appropriate visual representation within the problem as a facilitator of analogical reasoning. The results indicate that a visual representation within the problem can act as a facilitator of analogical reasoning, possibly by acting as a retrieval cue.

Category representations and their implications for category structure.

Abstract: In a series of experiments and reanalyses of previous research, we tested the hypothesis that categories that are primarily represented by extrinsic features (i.e., those that are relations between two or more entities) would yield more graded structures than would categories primarily represented by intrinsic features (i.e., those features true of an item considered in isolation). These predictions were confirmed. Extrinsically represented categories showed (1) less agreement across subjects on membership judgments, (2) more graded membership in a membership judgment task, and (3) smaller differences between gradients of typicality and of membership judgments

Production, verification, and priming of multiplication facts.

Abstract: In the arithmetic-verification procedure, subjects are presented with a simple equation (e.g., 4 × 8 = 24) and must decide quickly whether it is true or false. The prevailing model of arithmetic verification holds that the presented answer (e.g., 24) has no direct effect on the speed and accuracy of retrieving an answer to the problem. It follows that models of the retrieval stage based on verification are also valid models of retrieval in the production task, in which subjects simply retrieve and state the answer to a given problem. Results of two experiments using singledigit multiplication problems challenge these assumptions. It is argued that the presented answer in verification functions as a priming stimulus and that on “true” verification trials the effects of priming are sufficient to distort estimates of problem difficulty and to mask important evidence about the nature of the retrieval process. It is also argued that the priming of false answers that have associative links to a presented problem induces interference that disrupts both speed and accuracy of retrieval. The results raise questions about the interpretation of verification data and offer support for a network-interference theory of the mental processes underlying simple multiplication.

A size-congruency effect in memory for visual shape.

Abstract: In five experiments, visual shapes were shown at either a small or a large size for study in the learning phase of a recognition memory experiment. Later, in the test phase, recognition memory was tested in anold-new paradigm in which an equal number of new shapes were mixed at random with previously seen shapes. Half of theold shapes were shown at the same size as in the learning phase, whereas half were shown at the other size. In every experiment, shapes tested at the same size as shown in the learning phase were recognized more quickly and more accurately than shapes tested at a different size. This size-congruency effect was found for line drawings of natural objects and for unfamiliar shapes (i.e., blobs and stick figures). Furthermore, the magnitude of the size-congruency effect depended on the degree of discrepancy between the learning size and the test size. Together, the results suggest that visual shape memory can be sensitive to the size at which patterns are originally encoded, and that the speed and accuracy of recognition memory is influenced by the size of a shape.

Processing lexical ambiguity and visual word recognition in a deep orthography.

Abstract: We investigated the effect of semantic and phonemic ambiguity on lexical decision and naming performance in the deep Hebrew orthography. Experiment 1 revealed that lexical decisions for ambiguous consonant strings are faster than those for any of the high- or low-frequency voweled alternative meanings of the same strings. These results suggested that lexical decisions for phonemically and semantically ambiguous Hebrew consonant strings are based on the ambiguous orthographic information. However, a significant frequency effect for both ambiguous and unambiguous words suggested that if vowels are present, subjects do not ignore them completely while making lexical decisions. Experiment 2 revealed that naming low-frequency voweled alternatives of ambiguous strings took significantly longer than naming the high-frequency alternatives or the unvoweled strings without a significant difference between the latter two string types. Voweled and unvoweled unambiguous strings, however, were named equally fast. We propose that semantic and phonological disambiguation of unvoweled words in Hebrew is achieved in parallel to the lexical decision, but is not required by it. Naming Hebrew words usually requires a readout of phonemic information from the lexicon.

The influence of camera angle on comprehension and retention of pictorial events.

Abstract: A subset of formal compositional principles was examined in the context of narrative pictorial events. Slide stories were constructed of six common events in which characters were depicted from three camera angles: low angle, eye-level, and high angle. After presentation, subjects evaluated the characters, recalled the stories, and engaged in a recognition task. Camera angle influenced subjects’ evaluation and retention of the stories in accordance with aesthetic principles. Camera angle had significant, predictable effects on judgments of the physical and personal characteristics of the characters, on recall of these characteristics, and on recall of the gist of the stories themselves. Recognition memory for camera angle was significantly less accurate than recognition memory for the characters. Subjects used the available visual information to construct coherent story representations, and, although camera angle strongly influenced the construction of these representations, specific camera angle information became less accessible.

Errors in short-term memory for good and poor readers.

Abstract: This study examined the role of phonetic factors in the performance of good and poor beginning readers on a verbal short-term memory task. Good and poor readers in the second and third grades repeated four-item lists of consonant-vowel syllables in which each consonant shared zero, one, or two features with other consonants in the string. As in previous studies, the poor readers performed less accurately than the good readers. However, the nature of their errors was the same: Both groups tended to transpose initial consonants as a function of their phonetic similarity and adjacency. These findings suggest that poor readers are able to employ a phonetic coding strategy in short-term memory, as do good readers, but less skillfully.

The word frequency effect in lexical decision: finding a frequency-based component.

Abstract: Subjects making lexical decisions are reliably faster in responding to high-frequency words than to low-frequency words. This is known as the word frequency effect. We wished to demonstrate that some portion of this effect was due to frequency differences between words rather than to other dimensions correlated with word frequency. Three groups of subjects (10 engineers, 10 nurses, and I0 law students) made lexical decisions about 720 items, half words and half nonwords, from six different categories (engineering, medical, low-frequency nontechnical, medium-frequency nontechnical, and two groups of high-frequency nontechnical). Results of two analyses of variance revealed a crossover interaction such that engineers were faster in responding to engineering words than to medical words, whereas nurses were faster in responding to medical words than to engineering words. The engineering and medical words were equally long and equally infrequent by standard word counts. We take this as support for a frequency-based component in the word frequency effect. The practical implications of this research for estimating the readability of technical text are discussed.

The inflected noun system in Serbo-Croatian: Lexical representation of morphological structure

Abstract: Repetition priming is examined for alternating and nonalternating morphologically related inflected nouns. In Experiments 1 and 2, latencies to targets in nominative and dativellocative cases, respectively, were invariant over case of prime. In Experiment 3, latencies to nominative­ case nouns were the same whether the nouns were primed by forms in which the spelling and pronunciation of the common stem were shared (nonalternating) or not (alternating) with the nominative form. Results are interpreted 88 reflecting lexical organization among the members of a noun system. In Experiments 1 and 2, the pattern of latencies to primes suggests a satellite organization in which nominative forms are more strongly linked to oblique forms than oblique forms are to each other. In Experiment 3, atypical cases of alternating forms showed a different pattern of prime latencies, suggesting .that the organization within a noun system may differ for alternating and nonalternating forms. In these studies, we examined the role of morphology in the reading lexicon of speakers of Serbo-Croatian, the dominant language of Yugoslavia. The morphology of Serbo-Croatian is particularly interesting to studybecause it is substantially richer than that of English. Generally, in Serbo-Croatian, inflectional affixes are appended to nouns and adjectives, with the particular termination vary­ ing accordingto case, gender, and number. Analogously, for verbs, inflectional suffixes and sometimes infixesmay vary with tense, aspect, person, number, and sometimes gender of the subject. The formation of diminutives, agen­ tives, and other derivations-which are characteristic of Slavic languages-is similarly complex. Consequently, each Serbo-Croatianbase word has many variants, yield­ ing extensive families of morphologically related words. In the presentseries of experiments, we exploredin par­ ticular how the singular-ease inflected forms of a word are related in the internal lexicon of adult readers who

An adult model of preschool children's speech memory.

Abstract: In previous work, it has been demonstrated that phonetic similarity among the items in a spoken list interferes with recall much more in school-aged children than in preschool children. The basis of this developmental change, however, is unclear. In the present study we examined the possibility that a developmental increase in the use of covert verbal rehearsal accounts for the change in the effects of phonetic similarity. Adults who recalled lists of spoken words during articulatory suppression tasks that blocked covert rehearsal were found to display patterns of recall that resembled those ordinarily found in 5-year-old children. The specific aspects of rehearsal responsible for these effects also were investigated.

Orientation-specificity in kinesthetic spatial learning: The role of multiple orientations

Abstract: In the current study we tested whether multiple orientations in kinesthetic learning affected how flexibly spatial information is stored and later used in making location judgments. Three groups learned simple routes by walking them while blindfolded, with (1) multiple orientations achieved through normal walking, (2) multiple orientations achieved through backward walking, or (3) a single orientation achieved through walking without turning (which required forward, backward, and sideways walking). When subjects had experienced multiple orientations while learning the routes, later directional judgments were equally accurate (and equally rapid) regardless of whether the judgments were aligned or were contra-aligned with the orientation of the routes as originally learned. In contrast, when routes were learned in a single orientation (without turning), subsequent judgments on contra-aligned trials were both less accurate and slower than judgments on aligned trials. Thus, multiple orientations are important to establish orientation-free, flexible use of spatial information in a kinesthetic learning environment. This contrasts with the pattern of results typically found in visual spatial learning and suggests that the factors that affect orientation specificity of spatial use may differ across spatial modality.

Evaluating information for truthfulness: the effects of logical subordination.

Abstract: Research has shown that many individuals do not routinely evaluate new information for consistency with respect to what they already know. One factor that may affect the likelihood of critical evaluation is whether or not the information is the central focus of the message. Two experiments tested this possibility by establishing differential emphasis of false information within complex sentences. Half of the target sentences contained a false fact in the main clause and half contained a false fact in the subordinate clause. In Experiment 1 subjects verified 64 sentences presented orally as either true or false. In Experiment 2 subjects read and evaluated 20 paragraphs for the presence of false information. As expected, subjects were less likely to report the false information when it was conveyed as logically subordinate rather than central. The results suggest one explanation for deficits in comprehension monitoring and have implications for understanding susceptibility to persuasive communications.

Interevent differences in event memory: why are some events more recallable than others?

Abstract: Interitem differences in the free recall of action events were studied in five experiments. The action events were presented in three different formats: minitasks performed by the subjects in response to verbal instructions from the experimenter (SPTs), minitasks performed by the experimenter (EPTs), and task instructions (TIs). Not only were reliable interevent differences in recall probability demonstrated within each format, but these differences tended to correlate across formats, especially between the SPTs and EPTs; thus, a highly recallable SPT also tended to be a highly recallable EPT. Attempts to explain interitem recall differences in terms of differences in familiarity, vividness, and the availability of environmental cues were largely unsuccessful. An experimental analysis of the action events into action and object components showed the recall probabilities of our events to be mainly dependent on the recall probabilities of their action components, with only a minor dependence on the recall probabilities of their object components.

Metamemory for narrative text.

Abstract: In this experiment, we investigated metamemory for narrative text passages. Subjects read two stories and made memory predictions for the idea units in one and rated the importance of ideas in the other. Half of the subjects were asked to recall the story immediately after reading the passages and half were asked to recall 1 week later; half received passages with single inconsistent idea units and half received passages with corresponding consistent idea units. All subjects made confidence judgments about the accuracy of their recall. Subjects’ prediction ratings were related to recall, as shown by significant prediction accuracy quotients. Importance ratings were related to recall on the delayed test but not on the immediate test. Memory prediction ratings predicted recall better than did importance ratings. The absolute level of memory predictions did not differ with delay, but subjects did give higher confidence judgments on an immediate than on a delayed test. Subjects recalled the inconsistent idea better than the consistent idea for one story but not for the other. For both stories, subjects predicted that they would remember the inconsistent ideas better, suggesting that they have avon Restorff-type view, rather than a schema view, of memory. We conclude that subjects can predict their memory for the idea units in narrative text.

Evidence for an anaphoric mechanism within syntactic processing: some reference relations defy semantic and pragmatic constraints.

Abstract: In three experiments, we examined an interaction between the pronounthey and syntactic analysis. Experiment 1 demonstrates thatthey can slow reading times tois when this verb is visually presented immediately after a sentence fragment ending with an ambiguous expression such asflying kites. This effect seems to involve a coreference assignment linkingthey and the ambiguous expression that influences the syntactic analysis of the latter. Experiments 2 and 3 show that this effect can operate even when coreference betweenthey and the ambiguous expression is implausible. These results support a modular theory of comprehension that includes structurally oriented reference processes with access to some, but not all, of the listener’s knowledge relevant to coreference.

The subjective familiarity of English homophones.

Abstract: College students rated 828 homophonic words (words with the same pronunciation but different spellings) in terms of subjective familiarity. High interrater reliability was obtained, and the ratings correlated well with other published familiarity measures (r=.85). The familiarity ratings also correlated highly with log transforms of Kucera and Francis’s (1967) printed frequency measures (r= 75). However, many words of equal log frequency varied widely in rated familiarity, and vice versa. To determine which of these two factors was the better predictor of verbal performance, we orthogonally varied the two in a lexical decision task and found that, for words of moderate frequency, rated familiarity was by far the better predictor. We conclude that even though printed frequency and rated familiarity generally covary, printed frequency is a less reliable index of the underlying psychological construct, word familiarity.