AI Article Synopsis
- The study examined how 18-month-old infants respond to semantic priming using the inter-modal priming technique, focusing on how repeat exposure to cues affects their attention.
- The researchers found that when infants saw repeated related cues, they looked longer at the targets, suggesting that even young infants have a structured understanding of word meanings.
- The results also indicate that the timing between cues and targets (known as SOA) can influence priming effects, with negative priming potentially explaining some outcomes, and the study showcases the effectiveness of the inter-modal priming task for exploring language comprehension in infants.
Article Abstract
This study investigated semantic priming in 18-month-old infants using the inter-modal priming technique, focusing on the effects of prime repetition on saliency. Our findings showed that prime repetition led to longer looking times at target referents for related primes compared to unrelated primes, supporting the existence of a structured semantic system in infants as young as 18 months. The results are consistent with both Spreading Activation and Distributed models of semantic priming. Additionally, our findings highlighted the impact of prime-target stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) on priming effects, revealing positive, negative, or no priming effects depending on the chosen SOA. A post-hoc explanation of this finding points to negative priming as a possible mechanism. The study also demonstrated the utility of the inter-modal priming task in studying lexical-semantic structure in younger infants with its diverse measures of infant behaviour.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105764 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Semantically congruent auditory primes enhance visual search efficiency: Direct evidence by varying set size.
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Saarland University.
Task-irrelevant sounds that are semantically congruent with the target can facilitate performance in visual search tasks, resulting in faster search times. In three experiments, we tested the underlying processes of this effect. Participants were presented with auditory primes that were semantically congruent, neutral, or incongruent to the visual search target, and importantly, we varied the set size of the search displays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWords before pictures: the role of language in biasing visual attention.
Front Psychol
December 2024
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
Background: The present study investigated whether semantic processing of word and object primes can bias visual attention using top-down influences, even within an exogenous cueing framework. We hypothesized that real words and familiar objects would more effectively bias attentional engagement and target detection than pseudowords or pseudo-objects, as they can trigger prior knowledge to influence attention orienting and target detection.
Methods: To examine this, we conducted two web-based eye-tracking experiments that ensured participants maintained central fixation on the screen during remote data collection.
The N400 component reflecting semantic and repetition priming of visual scenes is suppressed during the attentional blink.
Atten Percept Psychophys
December 2024
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716-2577, USA.
In the attentional blink paradigm, participants attempt to identify two targets appearing in a rapidly presented stream of distractors. Report accuracy is typically high for the first target (T1) while identification of the second target (T2) is impaired when it follows within about 200-400 ms of T1. An important question is whether T2 is processed to a semantic level even when participants are unaware of its identity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLanguage switching is modulated by emotion priming: evidence from behavioral and event-related potentials study.
Front Psychol
December 2024
School of Education Science, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
Introduction: Bilinguals often switch between different languages to effectively communicate their ideas. The variation in the increase in reaction times and error rates is termed as the language switch cost. Generally, bilingual language-switching costs demonstrate asymmetry, with a greater cost associated with transitioning from the weaker L2 to the dominant L1 than in the reverse scenario.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrthographic and Meaning Processes in Reading Chinese Compounds: Comparisons Between L1 and L2 Reading.
J Psycholinguist Res
December 2024
Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Article Synopsis
- Research explores the timing of orthographic (visual) and semantic (meaning) processes in reading complex words, particularly using Chinese characters that clearly show morphemes.
- Four priming experiments were conducted to see how native Chinese speakers (L1) and Chinese learners (L2) differ in their reading processes, focusing on how well they understand the language’s lexical quality.
- Findings reveal that L1 readers quickly recognize orthographic effects even with short exposure, while L2 readers show both effects only with longer exposure, suggesting that understanding of morphological meanings improves with experience.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!