The lexical decision task (LDT) is a procedure used in many psychology and psycholinguistics experiments. The basic procedure involves measuring how quickly people classify stimuli as words or nonwords.
Although versions of the task had been used by researchers for a number of years, the term lexical decision task was coined by David E. Meyer and Roger W. Schvaneveldt, who brought the task to prominence in a series of studies on semantic memory and word recognition in the early 1970s.[1][2][3] Since then, the task has been used in thousands of studies, investigating semantic memory and lexical access in general.[4][5]
Subjects are presented, either visually or auditorily, with a mixture of words and logatomes or pseudowords (nonsense strings that respect the phonotactic rules of a language, like trud in English). Their task is to indicate, usually with a button-press, whether the presented stimulus is a word or not.
The analysis is based on the reaction times (and, secondarily, the error rates) for the various conditions for which the words (or the pseudowords) differ. A very common effect is that of frequency: words that are more frequent are recognized faster. In a cleverly designed experiment, one can draw theoretical inferences from differences like this.[6] For instance, one might conclude that common words have a stronger mental representation than uncommon words.
Lexical decision tasks are often combined with other experimental techniques, such as priming, in which the subject is 'primed' with a certain stimulus before the actual lexical decision task has to be performed. In this way, it has been shown[1][2][3] that subjects are faster to respond to words when they are first shown a semantically related prime: participants are faster to confirm "nurse" as a word when it is preceded by "doctor" than when it is preceded by "butter". This is one example of the phenomenon of priming.
Lateralization in Semantic Processing
Lateralization of brain function is the tendency for some neural functions or cognitive processes to be more dominant in one hemisphere than the other. Studies in semantic processing have found that there is lateralization for semantic processing by investigating hemisphere deficits, which can either be lesions, damage or disease, in the medial temporal lobe.[7] Tests like the LDT that use semantic priming have found that deficits in the left hemisphere preserve summation priming while deficits in the right hemisphere preserve direct or coarse priming.[8]
Examples of summation priming include:
Shuttle, ground, space -> Launch
Railroad, coal, conductor -> Train
Examples of direct or coarse priming include:
Cut -> Scissors
Write -> Pencil
An fMRI study found that the left hemisphere was dominant in processing the metaphorical or idiomatic interpretation of idioms whereas processing of an idiom’s literal interpretation was associated with increased activity in the right hemisphere.[9]
Other LDT studies have found that the right hemisphere is unable to recognize abstract or ambiguous nouns, verbs, or adverbs. It is, however, able to distinguish the meaning of concrete adjectives and nouns as efficiently as the left hemisphere. The same study also found that the right hemisphere is able to detect the semantic relationship between concrete nouns and their superordinate categories.[10]
Studies in right hemisphere deficits found that subjects had difficulties activating the subordinate meanings of metaphors, suggesting a selective problem with figurative meanings.[11] Bias has also been found in semantic processing with the left hemisphere more involved in semantic convergent priming, defining the dominant meaning of a word, and the right hemisphere more involved in divergent semantic priming, defining alternate meanings of a word.[12] For example, when primed with the word "bank," the left hemisphere would be bias to define it as a place where money is stored, while the right hemisphere might define it as the shore of a river. The right hemisphere may extend this and may also associate the definition of a word with other words that are related. For example, while the left hemisphere will define pig as a farm animal, the right hemisphere will also associate the word pig with farms, other farm animals like cows, and foods like pork.
Notes
^ abMeyer, D.E.; Schvaneveldt, R.W. (1971). "Facilitation in recognizing pairs of words: Evidence of a dependence between retrieval operations". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 90 (2): 227–234. doi:10.1037/h0031564. PMID 5134329.
^ abSchvaneveldt, R.W.; Meyer, D.E. (1973), "Retrieval and comparison processes in semantic memory", in Kornblum, S. (ed.), Attention and performance IV, New York: Academic Press, pp. 395–409
^ abMeyer, D.E.; Schvaneveldt, R.W.; Ruddy, M.G. (1975), "Loci of contextual effects on visual word recognition", in Rabbitt, P.; Dornic, S. (eds.), Attention and performance V, London: Academic Press, pp. 98–118
^Ratcliff, Roger; Gomez, Pablo; McKoon, Gail (2004). "A Diffusion Model Account of the Lexical Decision Task". Psychological Review. 111 (1): 159–182. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.111.1.159. PMC1403837. PMID 14756592.
^Kotz, Sonja A.; et al. (2002). "Modulation of the lexical–semantic network by auditory semantic priming: An event-related functional MRI study". NeuroImage. 17 (4): 1761–1772. doi:10.1006/nimg.2002.1316. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0010-C767-D. PMID 12498750. S2CID 476483.
^Beeman, Mark; et al. (1994). "Summation priming and coarse semantic coding in the right hemisphere". Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 6 (1): 26–45. doi:10.1162/jocn.1994.6.1.26. PMID 23962328. S2CID 9834876.
^Mashal, Nira, et al. "Hemispheric differences in processing the literal interpretation of idioms: Converging evidence from behavioral and fMRI studies." cortex 44.7 (2008): 848-860.
^Day, James (1977). "Right-hemisphere language processing in normal right-handers". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 3 (3): 518–528. doi:10.1037/0096-1523.3.3.518. PMID 886282.
^Klepousniotou, Ekaterini; Baum, Shari R. (2005). "Processing homonymy and polysemy: Effects of sentential context and time-course following unilateral brain damage". Brain and Language. 95 (3): 365–382. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2005.03.001. PMID 16298667. S2CID 9885576.
^Faust, Miriam; Lavidor, Michal (2003). "Semantically convergent and semantically divergent priming in the cerebral hemispheres: Lexical decision and semantic judgment". Cognitive Brain Research. 17 (3): 585–597. doi:10.1016/s0926-6410(03)00172-1. PMID 14561447.
References
Harley, Trevor (2001). The Psychology of Language. From Data To Theory. Hove: Psychology Press. ISBN978-0-86377-866-7.
April 13, 2023
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The lexical decision task LDT is a procedure used in many psychology and psycholinguistics experiments The basic procedure involves measuring how quickly people classify stimuli as words or nonwords Although versions of the task had been used by researchers for a number of years the term lexical decision task was coined by David E Meyer and Roger W Schvaneveldt who brought the task to prominence in a series of studies on semantic memory and word recognition in the early 1970s 1 2 3 Since then the task has been used in thousands of studies investigating semantic memory and lexical access in general 4 5 Contents 1 The task 2 Lateralization in Semantic Processing 3 Notes 4 ReferencesThe task EditSubjects are presented either visually or auditorily with a mixture of words and logatomes or pseudowords nonsense strings that respect the phonotactic rules of a language like trud in English Their task is to indicate usually with a button press whether the presented stimulus is a word or not The analysis is based on the reaction times and secondarily the error rates for the various conditions for which the words or the pseudowords differ A very common effect is that of frequency words that are more frequent are recognized faster In a cleverly designed experiment one can draw theoretical inferences from differences like this 6 For instance one might conclude that common words have a stronger mental representation than uncommon words Lexical decision tasks are often combined with other experimental techniques such as priming in which the subject is primed with a certain stimulus before the actual lexical decision task has to be performed In this way it has been shown 1 2 3 that subjects are faster to respond to words when they are first shown a semantically related prime participants are faster to confirm nurse as a word when it is preceded by doctor than when it is preceded by butter This is one example of the phenomenon of priming Lateralization in Semantic Processing EditLateralization of brain function is the tendency for some neural functions or cognitive processes to be more dominant in one hemisphere than the other Studies in semantic processing have found that there is lateralization for semantic processing by investigating hemisphere deficits which can either be lesions damage or disease in the medial temporal lobe 7 Tests like the LDT that use semantic priming have found that deficits in the left hemisphere preserve summation priming while deficits in the right hemisphere preserve direct or coarse priming 8 Examples of summation priming include Shuttle ground space gt LaunchRailroad coal conductor gt TrainExamples of direct or coarse priming include Cut gt ScissorsWrite gt PencilAn fMRI study found that the left hemisphere was dominant in processing the metaphorical or idiomatic interpretation of idioms whereas processing of an idiom s literal interpretation was associated with increased activity in the right hemisphere 9 Other LDT studies have found that the right hemisphere is unable to recognize abstract or ambiguous nouns verbs or adverbs It is however able to distinguish the meaning of concrete adjectives and nouns as efficiently as the left hemisphere The same study also found that the right hemisphere is able to detect the semantic relationship between concrete nouns and their superordinate categories 10 Studies in right hemisphere deficits found that subjects had difficulties activating the subordinate meanings of metaphors suggesting a selective problem with figurative meanings 11 Bias has also been found in semantic processing with the left hemisphere more involved in semantic convergent priming defining the dominant meaning of a word and the right hemisphere more involved in divergent semantic priming defining alternate meanings of a word 12 For example when primed with the word bank the left hemisphere would be bias to define it as a place where money is stored while the right hemisphere might define it as the shore of a river The right hemisphere may extend this and may also associate the definition of a word with other words that are related For example while the left hemisphere will define pig as a farm animal the right hemisphere will also associate the word pig with farms other farm animals like cows and foods like pork Notes Edit a b Meyer D E Schvaneveldt R W 1971 Facilitation in recognizing pairs of words Evidence of a dependence between retrieval operations Journal of Experimental Psychology 90 2 227 234 doi 10 1037 h0031564 PMID 5134329 a b Schvaneveldt R W Meyer D E 1973 Retrieval and comparison processes in semantic memory in Kornblum S ed Attention and performance IV New York Academic Press pp 395 409 a b Meyer D E Schvaneveldt R W Ruddy M G 1975 Loci of contextual effects on visual word recognition in Rabbitt P Dornic S eds Attention and performance V London Academic Press pp 98 118 Lucas Margery 1999 05 01 Context effects in lexical access A meta analysis Memory amp Cognition 27 3 385 398 doi 10 3758 bf03211535 ISSN 0090 502X PMID 10355230 Lucas Margery 2000 12 01 Semantic priming without association A meta analytic review Psychonomic Bulletin amp Review 7 4 618 630 doi 10 3758 bf03212999 ISSN 1069 9384 PMID 11206202 Ratcliff Roger Gomez Pablo McKoon Gail 2004 A Diffusion Model Account of the Lexical Decision Task Psychological Review 111 1 159 182 doi 10 1037 0033 295x 111 1 159 PMC 1403837 PMID 14756592 Kotz Sonja A et al 2002 Modulation of the lexical semantic network by auditory semantic priming An event related functional MRI study NeuroImage 17 4 1761 1772 doi 10 1006 nimg 2002 1316 hdl 11858 00 001M 0000 0010 C767 D PMID 12498750 S2CID 476483 Beeman Mark et al 1994 Summation priming and coarse semantic coding in the right hemisphere Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 6 1 26 45 doi 10 1162 jocn 1994 6 1 26 PMID 23962328 S2CID 9834876 Mashal Nira et al Hemispheric differences in processing the literal interpretation of idioms Converging evidence from behavioral and fMRI studies cortex 44 7 2008 848 860 Day James 1977 Right hemisphere language processing in normal right handers Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance 3 3 518 528 doi 10 1037 0096 1523 3 3 518 PMID 886282 Klepousniotou Ekaterini Baum Shari R 2005 Processing homonymy and polysemy Effects of sentential context and time course following unilateral brain damage Brain and Language 95 3 365 382 doi 10 1016 j bandl 2005 03 001 PMID 16298667 S2CID 9885576 Faust Miriam Lavidor Michal 2003 Semantically convergent and semantically divergent priming in the cerebral hemispheres Lexical decision and semantic judgment Cognitive Brain Research 17 3 585 597 doi 10 1016 s0926 6410 03 00172 1 PMID 14561447 References EditHarley Trevor 2001 The Psychology of Language From Data To Theory Hove Psychology Press ISBN 978 0 86377 866 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lexical decision task amp oldid 1124067835, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
