1. Lexical interface 5 Nov 1, 2017 – DAY 27
Brain & Language
LING
NSCI
Harry Howard
Tulane University

2. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Course organization
Fun with

3. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Quiz stats P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9
P10
P11
tot
MIN 4 5 6
AVG
7.7
8.2
8.4
9.1
9.0
8.8
MAX 10

4. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
The lexical interface 4

5. Review of prototype theory
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Review of prototype theory
meronomy
or partonomy
hand |
finger
fingernail
typology
animal |
bird
sparrow
basic level
or prototype:
it has special
properties that
the others lack. ⇒

6. Dual pathways in vision
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Dual pathways in vision

7. The what / ventral pathway (Palmeri & Gauthier 2004)
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
The what / ventral pathway (Palmeri & Gauthier 2004)

8. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
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Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Lexical semantics 5

9. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
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Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Test by word grouping
Group two of these words together (silently!):

10. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
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Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Results

11. Test by semantic priming
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Test by semantic priming
LHD preserves
RHD preserves
Summation priming:
shuttle, ground, space > launch
Direct priming:
cut > scissors

12. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Other RH deficits
Naming category but not function
hat > pants (category: clothing)
wool *> suit (function: material)
Naming pictures of collective nouns
plane, car, truck, train = *
Naming goal-oriented categories
things you take on a camping trip = few (wrt NBD & LHD)

13. Time course of retrieval of meaning of ambiguous words
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Time course of retrieval of meaning of ambiguous words
Lexical decision priming experiment:
Use an ambiguous word as the prime (such as BANK) and display one of its meanings as the probe (MONEY or RIVER) to the right or left visual hemifield:
With a very short amount of time to process the prime word (35 ms):
LH shows priming for both dominant (MONEY) and subordinate (RIVER) meanings.
RH takes more time to activate both meanings (by at least 300 ms).
At a longer duration (750 ms):
LH shows no facilitation for the subordinate meaning.
RH shows sustained facilitation for both meanings.

14. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Conclusion
Burgess and Simpson (1988) hypothesized that this difference between short and long duration of inter-stimulus interval (ISI) may be advantageous for the disambiguation of ambiguous words during normal sentence processing:
In normal circumstances, the LH quickly selects an appropriate meaning and deactivates all inappropriate meanings of the word.
However, in sentences where the LH makes an error in its selection, the role of the RH may be to supply the alternative meaning.

15. Two types of semantic processing
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Two types of semantic processing
Convergent semantic processing
Divergent semantic processing
… in linguistic tasks which elicit a limited number of responses.
In such tasks, subjects must suppress alternate meanings or select a single best item from many choices.
For instance, a subject may be presented with a noun such as ‘hammer’ and be asked to supply a verb, giving the response ‘(to) pound’.
… in linguistic tasks which elicit a wide number of responses.
In such tasks, subjects must produce alternate meanings or list as many items as possible.
For instance, the experiment just mentioned can be continued by asking the subject to supply yet another verb, resulting in a response such as ‘(to) throw’.

16. Message-level information
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Message-level information
Size of priming unit: 6 word sentence > 3 word phrase > 1 word > no prime:
LH priming increases incrementally with the number of words.
RH shows equal priming.
Priming with scrambled vs. syntactically correct sentences:
LH shows greater priming from structured sentences.
Priming with congruous ('The patient swallowed the medicine') vs. incongruous sentences ('The patient parked the medicine'):
LH shows greater priming from the congruent sentence.

17. Conclusions for message-level info
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Conclusions for message-level info
LH can take advantage of message-level information in a sentence:
previous context
structure
congruity
RH processes only at the level of intralexical associations, independently of message-level information.
(Faust et al.)

18. Summary of lateralization of word semantics
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Summary of lateralization of word semantics LH RH
Quickly selects most familiar or dominant meaning (convergent processing) while suppressing other less closely related meanings.
Primes words that share many semantic features > closely associated words.
Primes the most frequent meaning of an ambiguous word.
Primes function, collectives, goal-oriented classes.
Priming is faster with more words.
Priming is slower for unstructured sentences.
Priming is slower for incongruent sentences.
Slowly selects multiple meanings (divergent processing) that are weakly associated.
Primes words that share few semantic features > loosely associated words.
Primes the less frequent meaning of an ambiguous word.
Primes category, but not others.
Priming stays same with more words.
Priming is same for unstructured sentences.
Priming is same for incongruent sentences.

19. Associations for “pig” in LH/RH terms
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Associations for “pig” in LH/RH terms

20. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
Final project
Improve a Wikipedia article about any of the topics mentioned in class or any other topic broadly related to neurolinguistics.
Write a short essay explaining what you did and why you did it.
Print the article before you improve it, highlighting any subtractions.
Print the article after you improve it, highlighting your additions.

21. Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
01-Nov-17
Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University
NEXT TIME
Move to morphology/syntax