This tutorial for the statistical processing of reaction times collected through a repeated-measure design is addressed to researchers in psychology. It aims at making explicit some important methodological issues, at orienting researchers to the existing solutions, and at providing them some evaluation tools for choosing the most robust and precise way to analyze their data. The methodological issues we tackle concern data filtering, missing values management, and statistical modeling (F1, F 2, F1 + F 2, quasi-F, mixed-effects models with hierarchical, or with crossed factors). For each issue, references and remedy suggestions are given. In addition, modeling techniques are compared on real data and a benchmark is given for estimating the precision and robustness of each technique.

We investigated the relevance of linguistic and perceptual factors to sign processing by comparing hearing individuals and deaf signers as they performed a handshape monitoring task, a signlanguage analogue to the phoneme-monitoring paradigms used in many spoken-language studies. Each subject saw a series of brief video clips, each of which showed either an ASL sign or a phonologically possible but non-lexical "non-sign," and responded when the viewed action was formed with a particular handshape. Stimuli varied with respect to the factors of Lexicality, handshape Markedness (Battison, 1978), and Type, defined according to whether the action is performed with one or two hands and for two-handed stimuli, whether or not the action is symmetrical.Deaf signers performed faster and more accurately than hearing non-signers, and effects related to handshape Markedness and stimulus Type were observed in both groups. However, no effects or interactions related to Lexicality were seen. A further analysis restricted to the deaf group indicated that these results were not dependent upon subjects' age of acquisition of ASL. This work provides new insights into the processes by which the handshape component of sign forms is recognized in a sign language, the role of language experience, and the extent to which these processes may or may not be considered specifically linguistic.

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Because cognitive linguists assert that primary and complex conceptual metaphors are theoretical constructs with a plausible yet uncertain psychological reality, we investigated if and how EEG coherence would differ between these two categories during comprehension. We formalized an algorithm of conceptual metaphor processing for the purpose of hypothesis testing, before collecting EEG data from 50 normal adults, looking for condition-specific EEG coherence patterns. Results confirm the psychological reality of these two metaphor categories. However, they also support alternative conceptions regarding the algorithm and nature of complex metaphors, developed and discussed in this article.

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