Automatic Access to Lexical Semantics in Aphasia: Evidence from Semantic and Associative Priming

Ostrin, Ruth K.; Tyler, Lorraine K.

doi:10.1006/brln.1993.1040

Cited by 60 publications

(47 citation statements)

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“…Fischler (1977) established that not all supposed semantic priming is based on association by demonstrating significant priming for semantically related word pairs that do not share any association (e.g., bread-cake and dance-skate). This finding has been replicated in the auditory modality (Ostrin & Tyler, 1993) and extended in several subsequent visual priming studies (Chiarello et al, 1990;Chiarello & Richards, 1992;Fischler, 1977;Hines, Czerwinski, Sawyer, & Dwyer, 1986;Lupker, 1984;Schreuder et al, 1984). In the studies by Chiarello and colleagues, presentation of stimuli was lateralized to the left or right visual field such that the words would be processed selectively by the contralateral cerebral hemisphere.…”

Section: Associative and Semantic Primingmentioning

confidence: 69%

Accessing different types of lexical semantic information: Evidence from priming.

Moss,

Ostrin,

Tyler

et al. 1995

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

254

286

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The types of semantic information that are automatically retrieved from the mental lexicon on hearing a word were investigated in 3 semantic priming experiments. The authors probed for activation of information about a word's category membership by using prime-target pairs that were members of a common semantic category (e.g., pig-horse) and 2 types of functional semantic properties: instrument relations (e.g., broom-floor) and script relations (e.g., restaurant-wine). The authors crossed type of semantic relation between prime and target with degree of normative association strength. In a paired and a single-word presentation version of an auditory lexicaldecision priming task, the authors found significant priming for category and functionally related targets, both with and without an additional associative relation. In all cases there was a significant associative boost. However, in a visual version of the single-word lexical-decision paradigm, a different pattern of results was found for each type of semantic relation. Category coordinates primed only when they were normatively associated, instrument relations primed both with and without association, and script relations primed in neither condition.The semantic priming paradigm introduced by Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) is one of the most widely used in psychological studies of memory and language. Many studies have demonstrated that participants' recognition of a target word, such as nurse, is facilitated when it is preceded by a related word like doctor, compared with a neutral or unrelated word (e.g., Antos, 1979;Becker, 1980;de Groot, 1984;McNamara, 1992aMcNamara, , 1992bNeely, 1991;Seidenberg, Waters, Sanders, & Langer, 1984). The main concern of these studies has been to characterize the mechanisms by which the context provided by the prime influences processing of the target word. However, priming tasks can also be used to investigate a different kind of question: What types of semantic information are automatically accessed when a word is heard or read? For a prime word to facilitate recognition of a particular target, it is necessary that the semantic information underpinning that prime-target relationship be accessed when the prime is processed. For example, if canary primes bird, this suggests that when canary is heard, information about its superordinate category is accessed. If we find that canary also primes small and yellow, it suggests that certain perceptual properties are also made available; if canary primes cage, it suggests that the information accessed includes the situation in which canaries are typically encountered. the semantic information accessed when a word is recognized by charting the range of prime-target relationships that support f acilitatory priming of a reaction time response such as lexical decision.The advantage of the priming task is that it can give a relatively transparent measure of the information that is normally made available to the comprehension system as a result of lexical access. This contrasts with off-li...

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Section: Associative and Semantic Primingmentioning

confidence: 69%

Accessing different types of lexical semantic information: Evidence from priming.

Moss,

Ostrin,

Tyler

et al. 1995

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

254

286

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Second, surprisingly enough, Broca's aphasics had a less stable pattern of performance, in that some studies reported no priming effects in these patients (Milberg & Blumstein, 1981;Milberg et al, 1987). In other studies, however, Broca patients showed the expected priming effect (Blumstein et al, 1982;Hagoort, 1993;Katz, 1988;Ostrin & Tyler, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Despite their strong resonance, both the empirical basis and the theoretical basis of this claim for an automatic access deficit in Broca's aphasics are actually rather weak. So far, the majority of priming studies have found largely normal priming results in patients with Broca's aphasia (Blumstein et al, 1982;Hagoort, 1993;Katz, 1988;Milberg, Blumstein, & Dworetzky, 1988;Ostrin & Tyler, 1993). Only two studies (Milberg & Blumstein, 1981;Milberg et al, 1987) did not obtain priming effects in these patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Today, we no longer live in a world with such clear divisions. A number of studies using a semantic priming paradigm in which patients were asked to make a lexical decision on the targets (Blumstein, Milberg, & Shrier, 1982;Chenery, Ingram, & Murdoch, 1990;Friedman, Glosser, & Diamond, 1988;Hagoort, 1993;Katz, 1988;Milberg & Blumstein, 1981;Milberg, Blumstein, & Dworetzky, 1987;Ostrin & Tyler, 1993;Prather, Zurif, Stern, & Rosen, 1992), cast serious doubts on the earlier account of lexicalsemantic deficits, for two reasons. First, despite significantly longer response latencies, Wernicke's aphasics consistently showed the same pattern of results as the normal control subjects; that is, both the control subjects and the Wernicke patients needed less time to recognize the target as a word when it was preceded by an associatively related word (Blumstein et al, 1982;Friedman et al, 1988;Hagoort, 1993;Milberg et al, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Semantic Priming in Broca's Aphasics at a Short SOA: No Support for an Automatic Access Deficit

Hagoort

1997

Brain and Language

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This study tests the recent claim that Broca's aphasics are impaired in automatic lexical access, including the retrieval of word meaning. Subjects are required to perform a lexical decision on visually presented prime target pairs. Half of the word targets are preceded by a related word, half by an unrelated word. Primes and targets are presented with a long stimulus-onset-asynchrony (SOA) of 1400 msec and with a short SOA of 300 msec. Normal priming effects are observed in Broca's aphasics for both SOAs. This result is discussed in the context of the claim that Broca's aphasics suffer from an impairment in the automatic access of lexical-semantic information. It is argued that none of the current priming studies provides evidence supporting this claim, since with short SOAs priming effects have been reliably obtained in Broca's aphasics. The results are more compatible with the claim that in many Broca's aphasics the functional locus of their comprehension deficit is at the level of postlexical integration processes.

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“…pen-DOG), both for young (e.g. Meyer & Schvaneveldt, 1971; Moss, Ostrin, Tyler, & Marslen-Wilson, in press; for a review see Neely, 1991) and older adult subjects (Burke, White, & Diaz, 1987;Ostrin & Tyler, 1993). Priming is believed to tap implicit, automatic access because subjects are not instructed to pay attention to the relation between prime and target-in fact, pains are taken to try to obscure the relation by the use of unrelated filler items.…”

Section: Semantic Priming and Automatic Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating semantic memory impairments: The contribution of semantic priming

Moss

Tyler

1995

Memory

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The semantic priming task is a valuable tool in the investigation of semantic memory impairments in patients with acquired disorders of language. This is because priming performance reflects automatic or implicit access to semantic information, unlike most other tests of semantic knowledge, which rely on explicit, voluntary access. Priming results are important for two main reasons: First, normal priming results may be observed in patients who perform poorly on other semantic memory tests, enabling us to distinguish between loss of, or damage to, information in semantic memory, and voluntary access to that information. Second, we can investigate the detailed pattern of loss and preservation of different types of semantic infomation, by charting the priming effects for different kinds of words, and different kinds of semantic relations between primes and targets.We discuss the use of the priming task in this context, and address some of the theoretical and me:hodological criticisms that have been raised in connection with use of the priming task to address these issues. We then describe two recent studies in which we have employed semantic priming tasks, along with other more traditional methods, to investigate specific questions about the semantic memory deficits of three patients.

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Automatic Access to Lexical Semantics in Aphasia: Evidence from Semantic and Associative Priming

Cited by 60 publications

References 0 publications

Accessing different types of lexical semantic information: Evidence from priming.

Accessing different types of lexical semantic information: Evidence from priming.

Semantic Priming in Broca's Aphasics at a Short SOA: No Support for an Automatic Access Deficit

Investigating semantic memory impairments: The contribution of semantic priming

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