Frequency and Chunking in Derived Words: A Parametric fMRI Study

Abstract

In usage-based linguistic theories, the assumption that high-frequency language strings are mentally represented as unitary chunks has been invoked to account for a wide range of phenomena. However, neurocognitive evidence in support of this assumption is still lacking. In line with Gestalt psychological assumptions, we propose that a language string qualifies as a chunk if the following two conditions are simultaneously satisfied: The perception of the whole string does not involve strong activation of its individual component parts, but the component parts in isolation strongly evoke the whole. Against this background, we explore the relationship between different frequency metrics and the chunk status of derived words (e.g., "government," "worthless") in a masked visual priming experiment with two conditions of interest. One condition investigates "whole-to-part" priming (worthless-WORTH), whereas the other one analyzes "part-to-whole" priming (tear-TEARLESS). Both conditions combine mixed-effects regression analyses of lexical decision RTs with a parametric fMRI design. Relative frequency (the frequency of the whole word relative to that of its onset-embedded part) emerges as the only frequency metric to correlate with chunk status in behavioral terms. The fMRI results show that relative frequency modulates activity in regions that have been related to morphological (de)composition or general task performance difficulty (notably left inferior frontal areas) and in regions associated with competition between whole, undecomposed words (right inferior frontal areas). We conclude that relative frequency affects early stages of processing, thereby supporting the usage-based concept of frequency-induced chunks.

Shared neural and cognitive mechanisms in action and language: The multiscale information transfer framework

“…In a similar vein, it is widely acknowledged that predictions play a role at all levels of language understanding (Kuperberg & Jaeger, ). At the morphological level, a masked visual priming experiment found that lexical decision times to complex words (e.g., tearless , worthless ) correlate with surprisal for the suffix (− less ), given the base ( tear , worth ) (Blumenthal‐Dramé et al, ). In this experiment, native speakers of English had to decide, as quickly and accurately as possible, whether a string of letters was a possible word of English, after brief (60 ms) exposure to the first morpheme of the word (e.g., worth—WORTHLESS , ticket—TICKETMENT ).…”

Spelling errors in English derivational suffixes reflect morphological boundary strength

“…Following Baayen (2002, 2005), we consider morphological boundary strength to be a gradient property of morphological boundaries reflecting their salience and the degree of segmentability of complex forms (Hay & Baayen, 2002. On this view, boundary strength is influenced by multiple parameters such as morphological productivity, semantic transparency, and the relative frequency of base and derived word (Blumenthal-Dramé et al, 2017;Hay & Baayen, 2002;Vannest, Newport, Newman, & Bavelier, 2011). The gradience of morphological boundaries, and the consequences of segmentability for the representation of words and morphemes, are a matter of active debate (Baayen, 2014;Hay & Baayen, 2005).…”

Reorganization of the neurobiology of language after sentence overlearning

“…These are processed bilaterally in 'language regions', with varying contribution of the left and right hemisphere as a function of, among other things, familiarity [139][140][141][142][143][144][145] . Furthermore, the more familiar [146][147][148][149][150][151][152] , frequent [153][154][155][156][157] , compositional ('red boat' vs 'cup boat') or coherent multiword expressions are 158,159 , the less 'language regions' tend to be active. Some studies show that sensorimotor activity is more strongly associated with high frequency words, word composition and impairments of word composition 160,161 while the basal ganglia are less active for higher frequency words 157,162 .…”

“…Furthermore, the more familiar [146][147][148][149][150][151][152] , frequent [153][154][155][156][157] , compositional ('red boat' vs 'cup boat') or coherent multiword expressions are 158,159 , the less 'language regions' tend to be active. Some studies show that sensorimotor activity is more strongly associated with high frequency words, word composition and impairments of word composition 160,161 while the basal ganglia are less active for higher frequency words 157,162 . One study concluded that 'areas canonically implicated in traditional neurophysiological models of language processing appear to play a lesser role in basic composition' (p. 2802) 160 .…”