Unmasking the Effects of Orthography, Semantics, and Phonology on 2AFC Visual Word Perceptual Identification

In the two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) task, the target stimulus is presented very briefly, and the participants must choose between two options as to which was the presented target. Some past research (Grossi et al., 2009; Haro et al., 2019) has assumed that the 2AFC word identification task isolates orthographic effects, despite orthographic, semantic, and phonological differences between the alternative options. If so, performance should not differ between word target/nonword foil pairs and British/American word pairs, the latter of which only differ orthographically. In Experiment 1, accuracy and sensitivity were higher during word/nonword trials than British/American trials when participants stated their response was not a guess, demonstrating that phonological/semantic processing contributes to 2AFC performance. In Experiment 2, target visibility was manipulated by increasing the contrast between target and mask for half the trials. Experiment 2 showed that target visibility did not interact with pair type on reaction time, which suggests phonological/semantic processing did not result in feedback to orthographic encoding in this task. This study demonstrates the influence of phonological/semantic processing on word perceptual identification, and shows that 2AFC word identification does not isolate orthographic effects when word/nonword pairs are used, but using British/American word pairs provides a method for doing so. Implications for models and future research are discussed

Retrieval Priming in Product Verification: Evidence From Retrieval-Induced Forgetting

The conditions under which multiplication verification (3 × 6 = 12, true or false?) involves product retrieval and comparison or familiarity-based recognition judgements has not been clearly established. In two experiments examining verification of single-digit multiplication problems, we used Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF), a signature of retrieval use, as an index of product retrieval in multiplication verification. In Experiment 1, 72 adults practiced multiplication either in a production format or in a verification format and then were tested on corresponding addition and control problems. The results showed RIF (i.e., slower answer production for addition problems whose multiplication counterparts had been practiced) in both the production-practice and the verification-practice groups, but RIF was stronger following true than false verification. Experiment 2 tested verification with related-false and unrelated-false products. Related-false equations produced longer RTs than unrelated false equations. Practice of true, related-false and unrelated-false multiplication equations all produced RIF of the addition counterparts but, overall, related-false multiplication equations produced relatively weak RIF. The results indicated that product retrieval mediates multiplication verification even when false answers are weak associative lures and suggest that a retrieve-and-compare process is the default strategy when false answers are at least plausible. We conclude that the presented answer in verification equations act as retrieval-priming stimuli with true equations priming correct answer retrieval and related-false answers interfering with correct answer retrieval