Voices in the mental lexicon: Words carry indexical information that can affect access to their meaning

Abstract

The speech signal carries both linguistic and non-linguistic information (e.g., a talker's voice qualities; referred to as indexical information). There is evidence that indexical information can affect some aspects of spoken word recognition, but we still do not know whether and how it can affect access to a word's meaning. A few studies support a dual-route model, in which inferences about the talker can guide access to meaning via a route external to the mental lexicon. It remains unclear whether indexical information is also encoded within the mental lexicon. The present study tests for indexical effects on spoken word recognition and referent selection within the mental lexicon.In two experiments, we manipulated voice-to-referent co-occurrence, while preventing participants from using indexical information in an explicit way. Participants learned novel words (e.g., bifa) and their meanings (e.g., kite), with each talker's voice linked (via systematic co-occurrence) to a specific referent (e.g., bifa spoken by speaker 1 referred to a specific picture of a kite). In testing, voice-to-referent mapping either matched that of training (congruent), or not (incongruent). Participants' looks to the target's referent were used as an index of lexical activation. Listeners looked faster at a target's referent on congruent than incongruent trials. The same pattern of results was observed in a third experiment, when testing was 24 hrs later.These results show that indexical information can be encoded in lexical representations and affect spoken word recognition and referent selection. Our findings are consistent with episodic and distributed views of the mental lexicon that assume multi-dimensional lexical representations.

Individual Differences in Categorization Gradience As Predicted by Online Processing of Phonetic Cues During Spoken Word Recognition: Evidence From Eye Movements

“…This resulted in a variable trial offset time, depending on the individual response time. As in many prior studies (Allopenna, Magnuson, & Tanenhaus, 1998; Kapnoula & Samuel, 2019; McMurray, Tanenhaus, & Aslin, 2002), we set a fixed trial duration of 2,000 ms. If a trial ended before this point, we extended the last eye fixation; trials longer than 2,000 ms were truncated.…”

Something old, something new: A review of the literature on sleep-related lexicalization of novel words in adults

“…Moreover, several studies point out that the emergence of lexicalized representations for novel words, that is, representations that interact with existing ones, is not immediate (e.g., Gaskell & Dumay, 2003;Henderson et al, 2015). These representations exhibit several characteristics that distinguish them from episodic representations-they are decontextualized, as they have been found to be less dependent on modality or speaker identity (e.g., Bakker et al, 2014;Kapnoula & Samuel, 2019). They do not depend on episodic memory, as there is evidence that their interaction with existing representations is not mediated by awareness (e.g., Dumay & Gaskell, 2012;Tamminen & Gaskell, 2013).…”

“…In a series of three experiments, Kapnoula and Samuel (2019) explored the role of changes in speaker identity on novel word learning and lexicalization. Participants were Spanish-Basque bilinguals (L1 Spanish) and they were presented with auditory novel words paired with three pictures of the same kind of object over the course of multiple trials (e.g., three different kites).…”

“…17 It is worth mentioning again that participants in Kapnoula & Samuel (2019) were Spanish-Basque bilinguals. Wang, Savage, Gaskell, Paulin, Robidoux, & Castles (2017) conducted a study similar in its design to the study by Bowers et al (2005).…”

“…General summary of novel word learning in monolingual/L1 individuals. Overall, there is evidence that novel words are initially represented as episodic traces, which are modality-specific (e.g., Bakker et al, 2014;Kapnoula & Samuel, 2019). Over time, abstract, lexicalized representations, gradually emerge (e.g., Gaskell & Dumay, 2003;Tamminen & Gaskell, 2008).…”