How (and why) does iconicity effect lexical access: An electrophysiological study of American sign language

McGarry, Meghan E.; Midgley, Katherine J.; Holcomb, Phillip J.; Emmorey, Karen

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108516

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Therefore, our results regarding the amplitude reduction of early N400 are in line with those studies showing facilitation of lexical access by a type of movement either in isolation (Emmorey & Corina, 1990) or combined with other sublexical parameters, such as handshape (Gutiérrez, 2008) and location (Dye & Shih, 2006). Another explanation for the N400 decrease associated with CA found here could be related to the increased iconicity of the signs produced with CA as compared to PT, since N400 decreases have also been shown for more iconic signs (McGarry et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Between bodily action and conventionalized structure: The neural mechanisms of constructed action in sign language comprehension.

Hernández Barros,

Puupponen,

Keränen

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Sign languages (SLs) are expressed through different bodily actions, ranging from re-enactment of physical events (constructed action, CA) to sequences of lexical signs with internal structure (plain telling, PT). Despite the prevalence of CA in signed interactions and its significance for SL comprehension, its neural dynamics remain unexplored. We examined the processing of different types of CA (subtle, reduced, and overt) and PT in 35 adult deaf or hearing native signers. The electroencephalographic-based processing of signed sentences with incongruent last signs was recorded. Attenuated N300 and early N400 were observed for CA in deaf but not in hearing signers. No differences were found between sentences with CA types in all signers, suggesting a continuum from PT to overt CA. Deaf signers focused more on body movements; hearing signers on faces. We conclude that CA is processed less effortlessly than PT, arguably because of its strong focus on bodily actions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Between bodily action and conventionalized structure: The neural mechanisms of constructed action in sign language comprehension.

Hernández Barros,

Puupponen,

Keränen

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…For example, iconicity can facilitate processing in some tasks (e.g., picture naming; McGarry et al, 2021;Navarrete et al, 2017), slow processing in others (e.g., phonological decisions: Thompson et al, 2010), and has no impact in some tasks (e.g., lexical decision: Bosworth & Emmorey, 2010;translation tasks: Gimeno-Martínez & Baus, 2022;McGarry et al, 2023). During language processing, iconicity may only come into play if it is task relevant in some way, e.g., there is alignment between visual features of a picture and the form of a sign which facilitates lexical retrieval (McGarry et al, 2021(McGarry et al, , 2023 or sign recognition (Thompson et al, 2009;Vinson et al, 2015). For lexical decision, the word-sign matching task used here, and translation tasks, the iconic form of signs is not relevant to the task (see also Emmorey, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural effects differ for learning highly iconic versus non-iconic signs in hearing adults

Akers,

Midgley,

Holcomb

et al. 2023

Bilingualism

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Little is known about the neural changes that accompany sign language learning by hearing adults. We used ERPs and a word-sign matching task to assess how learning impacted the N400 priming effect (reduced negativity for translations compared to unrelated trials). English monolinguals (N = 32) learned 100 ASL signs – half highly iconic (meaning was guessable), half non-iconic. In contrast to non-iconic signs, little learning was needed for the highly iconic signs as translation accuracy was similar pre- and post-learning. Prior to learning, an N400 priming effect was observed only for iconic signs. After learning, the size of the priming effect increased for non-iconic signs (replicating word learning studies) but decreased for iconic signs. For deaf ASL signers (N = 20), iconicity did not modulate the size of the N400 priming effect. We conclude that the impact of iconicity on lexico-semantic processing is reduced following learning, as signs are integrated into an emerging visual-manual lexicon.

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“…Despite its clear iconic motivation this is not true for the sign TREE, because comprehending BRAIN ASYMMETRIES IN SIGN LANGUAGE PROCESSING 12 the sign requires knowledge of the structured mapping from the strategy of iconic depiction to the lexical meaning (Emmorey, 2014;McGarry et al, 2023). Importantly, iconic strategies differ between sign languages: Whereas the DGS sign iconically depicts a tree with stem and crown using the arm and hand, Chinese Sign Language depicts only the outline of the stem (Bellugi & Klima, 1976).…”

Section: A Primer On Sign Language Linguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional and Structural Brain Asymmetries in Sign Language Processing

Trettenbrein¹,

Zaccarella²,

Friederici³

2023

Preprint

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The capacity for language constitutes a cornerstone of human cognition and distinguishes our species from other animals. Research in the cognitive sciences has demonstrated that this capacity is not bound to speech but can also be externalized in the form of sign language. Sign languages are the naturally occurring languages of the deaf and rely on movements and configurations of hands, arms, face, and torso in space. This chapter reviews the functional and structural organisation of the neural substrates of sign language as identified by neuroimaging research over the past decades. Most aspects of sign language processing in adult deaf signers markedly mirror the well-known functional left-lateralization of spoken and written language. However, both hemispheres exhibit a certain equipotentiality for processing linguistic information and the right hemisphere seems to specifically support processing of some constructions unique to the signed modality. Crucially, the so-called “core language network” in the left hemisphere constitutes a functional and structural asymmetry in typically developed deaf and hearing populations alike: This network is (i) pivotal for processing complex syntax independent of the modality of language use, (ii) matures in accordance with a genetically determined biological matrix, and (iii) may have constituted an evolutionary prerequisite for the emergence of the human capacity for language.

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How (and why) does iconicity effect lexical access: An electrophysiological study of American sign language

Cited by 8 publications

References 38 publications

Between bodily action and conventionalized structure: The neural mechanisms of constructed action in sign language comprehension.

Between bodily action and conventionalized structure: The neural mechanisms of constructed action in sign language comprehension.

Neural effects differ for learning highly iconic versus non-iconic signs in hearing adults

Functional and Structural Brain Asymmetries in Sign Language Processing

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