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Facilitation versus Inhibition in the Masked Priming Same–Different Matching Task

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In the past years, growing attention has been devoted to the masked priming same-different task introduced by Norris and Kinoshita ( 2008 , Journal of Experimental Psychology: General). However, a number of researchers have raised concerns on the nature of the cognitive processes underlying this task-in particular the suspicion that masked priming effects in this task are mostly inhibitory in nature and may be affected by probe-prime contingency. To examine the pattern of facilitative/inhibitory priming effects in this task, we conducted two experiments with an incremental priming paradigm using four stimulus-onset asynchronies (13, 27, 40, and 53 ms). Experiment 1 was conducted under a predictive-contingency scenario (probe-prime-target; i.e., "same" trials: HOUSE-house-HOUSE vs. house-water-HOUSE; "different" trials: field-house-HOUSE vs. field-water-HOUSE), while Experiment 2 employed a zero-contingency scenario (i.e., "same" trials: HOUSE-house-HOUSE vs. house-water-HOUSE; "different" trials: field-field-HOUSE vs. field-water-HOUSE). Results revealed that, for "same" responses, both facilitation and inhibition increased linearly with prime duration in the two scenarios, whereas the pattern of data varied for "different" responses, as predicted by the Bayesian Reader model.
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... When the primes are orthographically similar to the target (e.g., field- table-TABLE), no priming effect is observed. When the related primes are orthographically similar to the reference stimulus (e.g., field-field-TABLE, the "zero-contingency" technique), however, an inhibition effect emerges (Kinoshita & Norris, 2010;Lupker, Nakayama, & Perea, 2015a;Lupker, Perea, & Nakayama, 2015b: Perea, Moret-Tatay, & Carreiras, 2011. As Duñabeitia et al. (2011) state, these results indicate that "The same-different task is based on a comparison of the target and reference strings at a purely orthographic level" (p. ...
... The reference stimuli and the targets had matching word frequencies (both Ms ϭ 2.7), familiarity ratings (both Ms ϭ 5.5), and stroke numbers (both Ms ϭ 18.7). For the prime manipulation, we employed the "zero-contingency" technique, in which related primes were the transcriptions of the reference stimuli rather than the targets (Perea et al., 2011). Related primes were, on average 3.7 characters in length and had 3.5 morae. ...
... MSE ϭ 689.4. Consistent with previous studies using a zero-contingency technique (e.g., Perea et al., 2011) the "different" judgments were 17 ms slower when the primes were Hiragana transcriptions of the reference stimuli than when they were unrelated (486 ms vs. 469 ms). The Reference-Target Font type/size factor was not significant, both Fs Ͻ 1, nor was the interaction, both Fs Ͻ 1. Finally, for errors, the main effect of Prime Relatedness was marginally significant in the subject analysis and significant in the item analysis, F s (1, 58) ϭ 3.22, p Ͻ .08, ...
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The present experiment provides an investigation of a promising new tool, the masked priming same-different task, for investigating the orthographic coding process. Orthographic coding is the process of establishing a mental representation of the letters and letter order in the word being read which is then used by readers to access higher-level (e.g., semantic) information about that word. Prior research (e.g., Norris & Kinoshita, 2008) had suggested that performance in this task may be based entirely on orthographic codes. As reported by Lupker, Nakayama, and Perea (2015a), however, in at least some circumstances, phonological codes also play a role. Specifically, even though their 2 languages are completely different orthographically, Lupker et al.’s Japanese-English bilinguals showed priming in this task when masked L1 primes were phonologically similar to L2 targets. An obvious follow-up question is whether Lupker et al.’s effect might have resulted from a strategy that was adopted by their bilinguals to aid in processing of, and memory for, the somewhat unfamiliar L2 targets. In the present experiment, Japanese readers responded to (Japanese) Kanji targets with phonologically identical primes (on “related” trials) being presented in a completely different but highly familiar Japanese script, Hiragana. Once again, significant priming effects were observed, indicating that, although performance in the masked priming same-different task may be mainly based on orthographic codes, phonological codes can play a role even when the stimuli being matched are familiar words from a reader’s L1.
... In a "different" trial, the reference and the target would be different (e.g., panel and METAL, respectively). The related primes in "different" trials can be related to the target (e.g., Norris & Kinoshita, 2008) or to the reference (Kinoshita & Norris, 2010)-note that this does not alter the pattern of priming effects in "same" trials (i.e., the critical trials in this technique; see Kinoshita & Norris, 2010;Perea, Moret-Tatay, & Carreiras, 2011). ...
... For the purposes of the samedifferent task, we also selected a list of 112 five-letter words and 112 five-letter nonwords to act as references; for the words, the mean frequency per million was 19.5 (range: 1-195), and the mean number of orthographic neighbors was 2.8 (range: 0-13). For the "different" trials, we employed a zero-contingency scenario (see Kinoshita & Norris, 2010, Perea et al., 2011. That is, we manipulated the relationship between the reference and the prime: i) matched-case identity condition (e.g., nieto-nieto-ALTAR); ii) mismatched-case identity condition (e.g., nieto-NIETO-ALTAR); iii) unrelated word prime condition (half in lowercase, half in uppercase); and iv) unrelated nonword prime condition (half in lowercase, half in uppercase). ...
... Finally, the magnitude of the masked identity priming effect was slightly greater for word than for nonword stimuli, t = 2.15, p = .034 (see Norris & Kinoshita, 2008;Perea et al., 2011, for a similar pattern). ...
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In masked priming lexical decision experiments, there is a matched-case identity advantage for nonwords, but not for words (e.g., ERTAR-ERTAR < ertar-ERTAR; ALTAR-ALTAR = altar-ALTAR). This dissociation has been interpreted in terms of feedback from higher levels of processing during orthographic encoding. Here, we examined whether a matched-case identity advantage also occurs for words when top-down feedback is minimized. We employed a task that taps prelexical orthographic processes: the masked prime same-different task. For “same” trials, results showed faster response times for targets when preceded by a briefly presented matched-case identity prime than when preceded by a mismatched-case identity prime. Importantly, this advantage was similar in magnitude for nonwords and words. This finding constrains the interplay of bottom-up vs. top-down mechanisms in models of visual-word identification.
... Prior to the analysis, a cut-off of lower response times of 250 ms and above 1500 ms is performed. This cut-off was adopted for consistency with earlier studies in the field (Moret-Tatay & Perea et al., 2011). In addition, incorrect responses were excluded from the first analysis. ...
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The literature has shown that preadolescents with ADHD might benefit from specific actions such as the presence of corrective feedback during a task. In order to examine these effects, a sample of preadolescents was selected and divided into two groups: a control group and a target group with ADHD. Participants had to perform a decision-making task, with a counterbalanced design, presented in blocks with and without corrective feedback. Two different analysis procedures were carried out: the traditional student's t-test and an ex-Gaussian fit. The reaction times were much lower for in the feedback block than in the control blocks, as well as in the control group than in the adolescents with ADHD. The difference in feedback reached or approached a statistically significant level, however, the difference between the control and ADHD group did not show statistical significance (except for accuracy under feedback condition). In terms of component distribution analysis, a specific parameter, named τ, was much lower for the feedback condition and for the control group.
... Their mean word frequency (per million) is 0.24 (range: 0.21-0.27). We used a "zero-contingency" scenario on different trials (Perea, Moret-Tatay, & Carreiras, 2011), which means that the related primes were related to the reference stimuli rather than the targets. 2 Each target was primed by either a backward prime (e.g., 掩耳盗铃(ABCD) -铃盗耳掩(DCBA) -火眼金睛) or an unrelated prime (e.g., 世风日下(ABCD) -生而运应(EFGH) -无事生非) where the initial character string in the examples is the reference stimulus. The backward prime had all the same characters as the reference stimulus, however, those characters were presented in a right-to-left direction. ...
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Yang, Chen, Spinelli, and Lupker (2019) reported a large masked priming effect in a Chinese lexical-decision task using prime-target pairs in which the primes were presented in a backward (right-to-left) orientation (e.g., 说来的总-总的来说) (a “backward” priming effect). The question addressed here is whether this effect is truly an orthographic priming effect or is, to some degree, morphologically/meaning- or syllabic/phonologically-based. Five experiments, two involving phonologically-related primes and three involving meaning-related primes, produced no evidence that either of those factors contributed to the backward priming effect, implying that it truly is an orthographic effect. As backward priming effects do not emerge in English, these results suggest that the orthographic coding process is quite different for Chinese versus English readers. Specifically, they support the conclusion that the orthographic coding process for Chinese readers codes character positions in a quite flexible fashion. Issues concerning the generalizability of current models of orthographic coding in alphabetic languages, as well as implications for models of Chinese word recognition, are discussed.
... The point of using the prime-reference relationship to define the related "different" trials (a "zero-contingency" manipulation -Perea, Moret-Tatay & Carreiras, 2011), rather than the prime-target relationship, is that in the former case, inhibition effects can emerge when the prime and reference stimulus are orthographically similar Lupker, Nakayama & Perea, 2015a;Lupker, Perea & Nakayama, 2015b;Perea et al., 2011). Therefore, the results on the "different" trials can potentially provide an additional opportunity to examine the importance of mismatching letters in the various letter positions. ...
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A word’s exterior letters, particularly its initial letter, appear to have a special status when reading. Therefore, most orthographic coding models incorporate assumptions giving initial letters and, in some cases, final letters, enhanced importance during the orthographic coding process. In the present article, 3 masked priming experiments were carried out, using the conventional lexical-decision task, the sandwich priming lexical-decision task and the masked priming same-different task, in an attempt to examine a number of those models with a specific focus on the implications of the models’ assumptions concerning the different letter positions. The related primes and targets were 6-letter strings that differed in 2 letter positions, initial (e.g., jnckey-HOCKEY), middle (e.g., hojney-HOCKEY), or final (hockjn-HOCKEY), with the middle-letters different primes being the primes that maintained both end letters. To the extent possible, the predictions of the models were derived by using easyNet, the simulation program recently developed by Adelman, Gubian, and Davis (2017). In all experiments, the final-letters different primes were the most effective primes with there being no clear distinction between the other 2 prime types, a pattern that none of the models predicted. The lack of an advantage for the middle-letters different primes suggests that the orthographic code driving masked priming is not one that places a special emphasis on the identities of the exterior letters.
... When they are related to the target, no priming [22,32]. When they are related to the reference, however, there is an inhibitory priming effect [33,[36][37][38], presumably due to the fact that the orthography of the prime supports an incorrect "same" response. What, therefore, appears to be crucial in this experimental paradigm is the orthographic relationship between the prime and the reference stimulus rather than the prime and the target. ...
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The experiments reported here used “Reversed-Interior” (RI) primes (e.g., cetupmor-COMPUTER) in three different masked priming paradigms in order to test between different models of orthographic coding/visual word recognition. The results of Experiment 1, using a standard masked priming methodology, showed no evidence of priming from RI primes, in contrast to the predictions of the Bayesian Reader and LTRS models. By contrast, Experiment 2, using a sandwich priming methodology, showed significant priming from RI primes, in contrast to the predictions of open bigram models, which predict that there should be no orthographic similarity between these primes and their targets. Similar results were obtained in Experiment 3, using a masked prime same-different task. The results of all three experiments are most consistent with the predictions derived from simulations of the Spatial-coding model.
... In the ANOVA for latency analyses, a trimming technique was carried out: the RTs less than 250 and higher than 1,500 ms were excluded (less than the 6% of the data set) as well as error trials. This cut-off point was adopted for consistency with earlier studies Perea, Moret-Tatay & Carreiras, 2011;Perea, Moret-Tatay & G omez, 2011;Perea, Moret-Tatay & Panadero, 2011). Here it is important to bear in mind that the percentage trimmed was similar for both groups (as depicted in Table 1). ...
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The reaction time has been described as a measure of perception, decision making, and other cognitive processes. The aim of this work is to examine age-related changes in executive functions in terms of demand load under varying presentation times. Two tasks were employed where a signal detection and a discrimination task were performed by young and older university students. Furthermore, a characterization of the response time distribution by an ex-Gaussian fit was carried out. The results indicated that the older participants were slower than the younger ones in signal detection and discrimination. Moreover, the differences between both processes for the older participants were higher, and they also showed a higher distribution average except for the lower and higher presentation time. The results suggest a general slowdown in both tasks for age under different presentation times, except for the cases where presentation times were lower and higher. Moreover, if these parameters are understood to be a reflection of executive functions, these findings are consistent with the common view that age-related cognitive deficits show a decline in this function.
... In particular, the word frequency is a classical effect in cognitive psychology characterized by its robustness: high-frequency words are recognized quicker and remembered better (Sternberg and Powell, 1983). Therefore, a large body of research has employed the word frequency as an approach of word difficulties (Dufau et al., 2011;Esteves et al., 2015;Moreno-Cid et al., 2015;Moret-Tatay and Perea, 2011b;Navarro-Pardo et al., 2013;Perea et al, 2011aPerea et al, ,b, 2012a. According to Breland (1996), the logic of this is that low-frequency words are more difficult because they appear less often in print. ...
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Norris, Kinoshita and colleagues (Kinoshita & Norris, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(1), 1–18, 2009; Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137(3), 434–455, 2010; Norris & Kinoshita, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63(1), 194–204, 2008) have suggested that the masked priming same-different task (SDT) is an excellent tool for studying the orthographic coding process because, in most circumstances, performance in that task is driven entirely by orthographic codes. More specifically, although evidence of phonological influences (i.e., phonological priming effects in the SDT) have been reported, Kinoshita, Gayed, and Norris (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44(11), 1661–1671, 2018) have claimed that phonological priming does not arise in the SDT when the prime and target are written in the same script and the targets are words, the most typical experimental situation. Indeed, it does appear that no-one has yet reported phonological priming effects in such situations. The question of whether it is possible to observe phonological priming in such situations was more fully examined in the present experiments. Experiment 1 involved a masked priming SDT using Japanese Kanji script in which the primes and targets were homophonic but shared no characters. Experiment 2 was a parallel experiment using Chinese stimuli. In both experiments, phonological priming effects were observed for both one- and two-character words. These experiments indicate that, although the priming effects in masked priming SDTs undoubtedly have a strong orthographic basis, phonological codes also play a role even when the prime and (word) target are written in the same script.
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Three masked priming paradigms, the conventional masked priming lexical-decision task (Forster & Davis, 1984), the sandwich priming task (Lupker & Davis, 2009), and the masked priming same-different task (Norris & Kinoshita, 2008), were used to investigate priming for a given target (e.g., JUDGE) from primes created by either adding a letter to the beginning of the target (e.g., zjudge) or replacing the target's initial letter (e.g., zudge). Virtually all models of orthographic coding that allow calculation of orthographic similarity measures predict that zjudge should be the better prime because zjudge contains all the letters in JUDGE in their correct order whereas zudge does not. Nonetheless, Adelman et al.'s (2014) megastudy data indicated no difference in the effectiveness of these two prime types. The present experiments provide additional support for the conclusion of no difference between these two prime types with the only observed difference being a small zudge prime advantage in Experiment 1b (sandwich priming). These results suggest that models of orthographic coding/word recognition may be well served by allowing inconsistent information (e.g., the "z" in both zjudge and zudge indicates that the presented prime is not JUDGE) to be given considerable weight during the orthographic coding/word recognition process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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In this brief reply, I argue that the Bayesian reader can account for any pattern of data (including those not actually observed) because the predictions of the model are largely independent of any Bayesian principles. It is a good thing that the model is flexible, as the implemented model has been falsified by existing data.
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