Denhière, Guy

Thérouanne, Pierre

Hal-Diderot

Time course study of single-word context effects: Evidence from activation of homograph meaning

HAL AMU

Archive Ouverte en Sciences de l'Information et de la Communication

Therouanne, Pierre

Denhiere, Guy

eScholarship - University of California

UC MercedProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science SocietyTitleTime course study of single-word context effects: Evidence from activation of homograph meaningPermalinkhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/9v8307rfJournalProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 20(0)AuthorsTherouanne, PierreDenhiere, GuyPublication Date1998 Peer reviewedeScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital LibraryUniversity of CaliforniaT i m e cours e stud y o f  single-wor d contex t  effects :  E v i d e n c e f r o m activatio n o f  h o m o g r a p h m e a n i n g Pierre Th^rouanne (therouan@newsup.univ-nirs.ft') Guy Denhiire (denhiere@newsup.univ-mrs.fr) Centr e d e Recherch e e n Psychologi c Cognitiv e ( U M R 6561 ) C N RS e t  Universit y d e Provence ,  29 ,  avenu e Rober t  Schuma n 1362 1 Aix-en-Provenc e Cede x 1 ,  Franc e I n t r o d u c t i o n Thi s pape r  i s concerne d wit h lexica l  contex t  effect s o n th e acces s o f  polysemi c wor d meaning .  Wherea s th e Interactiv e conceptio n (Marslen-Wilso n &  Tyler ,  1987 )  argue s fo r  a context-dependen t  access ,  th e Modularis t  on e assume s tha t initially ,  "wha t  matter s i s  merel y th e associativ e relatio n betwee n th e prim e wor d an d th e targe t  word "  (Kintsch , 1988) .  Concernin g th e lexica l  effects ,  thes e tw o conception s can b e reconcile d wit h th e hypothesi s tha t  th e combinatio n of  lexica l  item s ca n prim e relate d word ,  a s propose d b y Duffy ,  Henderson ,  &  Morri s  (1989) . Experiment The critica l  stimul i  wer e twenty-fou r  triple s o f  Frenc h words ,  comprisin g a  context-word ,  a  homograph ,  an d a  targe t wor d correspondin g t o th e dominan t  meanin g o f  th e homogr^h .  Th e contex t  wor d wa s relate d t o th e dominan t  o r t o th e subordinat e meanin g o f  th e homograph ,  o r  wa s no t semanticall y associate d t o i t  Th e tempora l  interva l  betwee n th e prim e an d th e targe t  (ISI )  wa s equa l  t o 5 0 ms .  fo r  1 8 subject s an d t o 35 0 ms .  fo r  th e 1 8 others . Each tria l  bega n wit h th e displa y o f  th e contex t  wor d presente d fo r  10 0 ms .  Next ,  th e homograp h wa s presente d fo r 100 ms. ,  immediatel y followe d b y a  mas k presente d durin g eithe r  5 0 o r  35 0 ms .  Thi s mas k wa s replace d b y th e targe t wor d tha t  remaine d o n th e scree n unti l  subject s mad e a lexica l  decision . Table 1: Mean decision times as a function of the ISI and of th e Contex t  word . ISI 50 ms . 350 ms . mean dominan t 55 2 504 528 Contex t  wor d neutra l  subordinat e 58 8 56 8 52 6 52 3 55 7 54 5 mean 569 518 Lexica l  decision s wer e faste r  fo r  th e dominan t  conditio n tha n fo r  th e neutra l  on e (£1(1,68) = 9.35 ,  c  <  .01 ;  £2(1,46) = 3.34 ,  n  =  .07) ,  wherea s th e compariso n opposin g th e subordinat e conditio n t o th e tw o other s condition s wa s no t significan t  (Es<l) .  Ther e wa s n o significan t  interactio n betwee n th e IS I  an d th e Contex t  wor d factor s (£s<l) .  Th e dat a sho w tha t  a  wor d presente d a s a  contex t  ca n immediatel y constrain s th e acces s t o th e meanin g o f  th e homograph . S i m u l a t i o n We hav e attempte d t o reproduc e th e lexica l  decisio n dat a wit h two-step s simulation s carrie d ou t  wit h th e Construction -Integratio n mode l  (Kintsch ,  1988) .  I n th e firs t  step , activatio n spreade d fro m th e contex t  an d th e prim e word s t o thei r  direc t  associate s i n th e associativ e ne t  W h e n th e patter n of  activatio n value s stabilized ,  th e valu e wa s highe r  fo r  th e nod e correspondin g t o th e targe t  wor d i n th e dominan t conditio n tha n i n th e neutra l  one .  I n th e secon d step ,  link s wer e adde d betwee n al l  th e concept s associate d i n th e knowledg e ne t  an d th e activatio n continue d t o spread .  W h e n th e stabilizatio n criterio n wa s reached ,  th e activatio n valu e fo r  th e targe t  wor d wa s agai n highe r  i n th e dominan t  tha n i n th e neutra l  condition . Table 2: Final activation values for the target word correspondin g t o th e homograp h "objecti f  (whic h ha s tw o meaning s i n French ,  ai m o r  lens) . Context word dominan t neutra l subordinat e Firs t  ste p Secon d ste p .339 9 .342 7 .223 0 .225 9 .192 6 .209 2 C o n c l u s i o n I n summary ,  lexica l  decision s wer e immediatel y facilitate d when a  relate d wor d wa s presente d befor e th e prime-targe t pair .  Simulation s carrie d ou t  replicate d thi s result , suggestin g tha t  contex t  effect s provide d b y lexica l  item s ca n be conceivabl e withi n a  modularis t  theoretica l  framewoiic. References Duffy ,  S .  A. ,  Henderson ,  J .  M. ,  &  Morris ,  R .  K .  (1989) . Semanti c facilitatio n o f  lexica l  acces s durin g sentenc e processing .  Journa l  o f  Experimenta l  Psychology : Learning ,  Memory ,  an d Cognition ,  15 ,  791-801 . Kintsch ,  W .  (1988) .  Th e rol e o f  knowledg e i n discours e comprehension :  A  Construction-Integratio n model . Psychologica l  Review ,  95 ,  163-182 . Marslen-Wilson ,  W .  D .  &  Tyle r  L .  K .  (1987) .  Agains t modularity .  I n J .  L .  Garfiel d (Ed.) ,  Modularit y i n Knowledg e Representatio n an d Natural-Languag e Understanding .  Cambridge ,  Mass. :  M I T Press . 126 9 

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Time course study of single-word context effects: Evidence from activation of homograph meaning

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