Visual word recognition in deaf readers: lexicality is modulated by communication mode

Automaticity of lexical access in deaf and hearing bilinguals: Cross-linguistic evidence from the color Stroop task across five languages

The well-known Stroop interference effect has been instrumental in revealing the highly automated nature of lexical processing as well as providing new insights to the underlying lexical organization of first and second languages within proficient bilinguals. The present cross-linguistic study had two goals: 1) to examine Stroop interference for dynamic signs and printed words in deaf ASL-English bilinguals who report no reliance on speech or audiological aids; 2) to compare Stroop interference effects in several groups of bilinguals whose two languages range from very distinct to very similar in their shared orthographic patterns: ASL-English bilinguals (very distinct), Chinese-English bilinguals (low similarity), Korean-English bilinguals (moderate similarity), and Spanish-English bilinguals (high similarity). Reaction time and accuracy were measured for the Stroop color naming and word reading tasks, for congruent and incongruent color font conditions. Results confirmed strong Stroop interference for both dynamic ASL stimuli and English printed words in deaf bilinguals, with stronger Stroop interference effects in ASL for deaf bilinguals who scored higher in a direct assessment of ASL proficiency. Comparison of the four groups of bilinguals revealed that the same-script bilinguals (Spanish-English bilinguals) exhibited significantly greater Stroop interference effects for color naming than the other three bilingual groups. The results support three conclusions. First, Stroop interference effects are found for both signed and spoken languages. Second, contrary to some claims in the literature about deaf signers who do not use speech being poor readers, deaf bilinguals' lexical processing of both signs and written words is highly automated. Third, cross-language similarity is a critical factor shaping bilinguals' experience of Stroop interference in their two languages. This study represents the first comparison of both deaf and hearing bilinguals on the Stroop task, offering a critical test of theories about bilingual lexical access and cognitive control.

Overusing the pacifier during infancy sets a footprint on abstract words processing

Perturbations to the speech articulators induced by frequently using an interfering object during infancy (i.e., pacifier) might shape children's language experience and the building of conceptual representations. Seventy-one typically developing third graders performed a semantic categorization task with abstract, concrete and emotional words. Children who used the pacifier for a more extended period were slower than the others. Moreover, overusing the pacifier increased response time of abstract words, whereas emotional and (above all) concrete words were less affected. Results support the view that abstract words are grounded both in perception-action and in linguistic experience.

Orthographic, Phonological, and Semantic Dynamics During Visual Word Recognition in Deaf Versus Hearing Adults

Purpose Studies on reading in individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss (deaf) raise the possibility that, due to deficient phonological coding, deaf individuals may rely more on orthographic-semantic links than on orthographic-phonological links. However, the relative contribution of phonological and semantic information to visual word recognition in deaf individuals was not directly assessed in these studies. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to examine the interplay between orthographic, phonological, and semantic representations during visual word recognition, in deaf versus hearing adults. Method Deaf and hearing participants were asked to perform a visual lexical decision task in Hebrew. The critical stimuli consisted of three types of Hebrew words, which differ in terms of their relationship between orthography, phonology, and semantics: unambiguous words, homonyms, and homographs. Results In the hearing group, phonological effects were more pronounced than semantic effects: Homographs (multiple pronunciations) were recognized significantly slower than homonyms or unambiguous words (one pronunciation). However, there was no significant difference between homonyms (multiple meanings) and unambiguous words (one meaning). In contrast, in the deaf group, there was no significant difference among the three word types, indicating that visual word recognition, in these participants, is driven primarily by orthography. Conclusion While visual word recognition in hearing readers is accomplished mainly via orthographic-phonological connections, deaf readers rely mainly on orthographic-semantic connections.

ERP effects of masked orthographic neighbour priming in deaf readers

In masked priming studies with hearing readers, neighbouring words (e.g., wine, vine) compete through lateral inhibition. Here, we asked whether lateral inhibition also characterizes visual word recognition in deaf readers and whether the neural signature of this competition is the same as for hearing readers. Only real words have lexical representations that engage in lateral inhibition. Therefore, we compared processing of target words following neighbouring prime words (e.g., wine-VINE) and pseudowords (e.g., bine-VINE). Targets following words elicited larger amplitude N400s and slower lexical decision responses than those following pseudowords, indicating more effortful processing due to lateral inhibition. Although these effects went in the same direction for hearing and deaf readers, the distribution of the N400 effect differed. We associate the more anterior effect in hearing readers with stronger co-activation of, and competition among, phonological representations. Thus, deaf readers use lexical competition to recognize visual words, but it is primarily restricted to orthographic representations.

The influence of communication mode on written language processing and beyond

Empirical evidence suggests a broad impact of communication mode on cognition at large, beyond language processing. Using a sign language since infancy might shape the representation of words and other linguistic stimuli - for example, incorporating in it the movements and signs used to express them. Once integrated into linguistic representations, this visuo-motor content can affect deaf signers' linguistic and cognitive processing.