Lexical neighborhood effects in pseudoword spelling

The general aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the cognitive processes that underpin skilled adult spelling. More specifically, it investigates the influence of lexical neighbors on pseudo-word spelling with the goal of providing a more detailed account of the interaction between lexical and sublexical sources of knowledge in spelling. In prior research examining this topic, adult participants typically heard lists composed of both words and pseudo-words and had to make a lexical decision to each stimulus before writing the pseudo-words. However, these priming paradigms are susceptible to strategic influence and may therefore not give a clear picture of the processes normally engaged in spelling unfamiliar words. In our two Experiments involving 71 French-speaking literate adults, only pseudo-words we represented which participants were simply requested to write to dictation using the first spelling that came to mind. Unbeknownst to participants, pseudo-words varied according to whether they did or did not have a phonological word neighbor. Results revealed that low-probability yphoneme/grapheme mapping(e.g.,/o/-> aud in French)were used significantly more often in spelling pseudo-words with a close phonological lexical neighbour with that spelling(e.g.,/krepo/derived from “crapaud,”/krapo/)than in spelling pseudo-words with no close neighbors(e.g.,/frøpo/).In addition, the strength of this lexical influence increased with the lexical frequency of the word neighbors as well as with their degree of phonetic overlap with the pseudoword targets. These results indicate that information from lexical and sublexical processes is integrated in the course of spelling, and a specific theoretical account as to how such integration may occur is introduced

Developmental surface dysgraphia without surface dyslexia

The case is reported of an individual (NK) with a developmental spelling impairment (dysgraphia) who has no apparent problems in reading. His performance is therefore similar to a case of dysgraphia without dyslexia (PJT) reported by Hepner, McCloskey & Rapp (2017), and provides further evidence of a classical dissociation between impaired spelling and preserved reading in individuals with developmental literacy problems. The dissociation is observed when NK is asked to read and spell in either his first (Greek) or his second language (English). An investigation of his spelling performance revealed that his impairment was more selective than that of PJT. Although his spelling of regular words and nonwords was normal, NK had a problem in spelling words with atypical sound-letter associations despite having no problems in reading aloud or understanding the meaning of words of this kind. It is argued that NK’s pattern of performance can be best explained in terms of normal development of an orthographic system that allows access to the meaning and pronunciation of written words during reading. In terms of a dual route model of spelling, his poor spelling appears to be the result of a developmental impairment that impedes access to the orthographic system from phonology and semantics. In terms of the triangle model, his poor spelling appears to be the result of a developmental impairment that affects activation of orthography from semantics

Costs and benefits of orthographic inconsistency in reading:evidence from a cross-linguistic comparison

We compared reading acquisition in English and Italian children up to late primary school analyzing RTs and errors as a function of various psycholinguistic variables and changes due to experience. Our results show that reading becomes progressively more reliant on larger processing units with age, but that this is modulated by consistency of the language. In English, an inconsistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs earlier on and it is demonstrated by faster RTs, a stronger effect of lexical variables and lack of length effect (by fifth grade). However, not all English children are able to master this mode of processing yielding larger inter-individual variability. In Italian, a consistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs later and it is less pronounced. This is demonstrated by larger length effects which remain significant even in older children and by larger effects of a global factor (related to speed of orthographic decoding) explaining changes of performance across ages. Our results show the importance of considering not only overall performance, but inter-individual variability and variability between conditions when interpreting cross-linguistic differences

Predictors of single word spelling in English-speaking children: a cross sectional study

Background: The study aimed to explore to what extent variables associated with lexical and sublexical spelling processes predicted single word spelling ability, and whether patterns of lexical and sublexical processes were different across ages. Methods: Beginning (mean age 7-years, N=144) and advanced (mean age 9-years, N=114) English-speaking spellers completed tasks associated with sublexical processing (phonological ability and phonological short-term memory), lexical processing (visual short-term memory, visual attention span), and factors known to predict spelling (e.g., rapid automatised naming). Results: Phonological ability, rapid automatised naming, visual short-term memory and visual attention span were significant predictors of spelling accuracy for beginning spellers, while for more advanced spellers, only visual attention span was a significant predictor. Conclusions: The findings suggested that for beginning spellers, both lexical and sublexical processes are important for single word spelling, but with increasing literacy experience, lexically related variables are more important

Time Scale Hierarchies in the Functional Organization of Complex Behaviors

Traditional approaches to cognitive modelling generally portray cognitive events in terms of ‘discrete’ states (point attractor dynamics) rather than in terms of processes, thereby neglecting the time structure of cognition. In contrast, more recent approaches explicitly address this temporal dimension, but typically provide no entry points into cognitive categorization of events and experiences. With the aim to incorporate both these aspects, we propose a framework for functional architectures. Our approach is grounded in the notion that arbitrary complex (human) behaviour is decomposable into functional modes (elementary units), which we conceptualize as low-dimensional dynamical objects (structured flows on manifolds). The ensemble of modes at an agent’s disposal constitutes his/her functional repertoire. The modes may be subjected to additional dynamics (termed operational signals), in particular, instantaneous inputs, and a mechanism that sequentially selects a mode so that it temporarily dominates the functional dynamics. The inputs and selection mechanisms act on faster and slower time scales then that inherent to the modes, respectively. The dynamics across the three time scales are coupled via feedback, rendering the entire architecture autonomous. We illustrate the functional architecture in the context of serial behaviour, namely cursive handwriting. Subsequently, we investigate the possibility of recovering the contributions of functional modes and operational signals from the output, which appears to be possible only when examining the output phase flow (i.e., not from trajectories in phase space or time)

On the importance of considering individual profiles when investigating the role of auditory sequential deficits in developmental dyslexia

The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between non-verbal auditory disorders and developmental dyslexia. This question has led to conflicting results in the literature, which we argued might be due to a failure to consider the heterogeneity of dyslexic profiles. This study included three groups of adult participants: unimpaired readers and dyslexic readers with or without a phonological deficit. Auditory temporal processing deficits, as measured by stream segregation thresholds, were present in most dyslexic participants with phonological disorders. In contrast, most dyslexic participants with preserved phonological skills had normal auditory stream segregation thresholds. Overall, the present study leads to a better understanding of the relationship between phonological and sequential auditory processing disorders in developmental dyslexia. In addition, it demonstrates for the first time the importance of considering the heterogeneity of individual cognitive profiles when investigating the role of auditory deficits in developmental dyslexia