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Mei X, Chen S, Xia X, Yang B, Liu Y. Neural correlates for word-frequency effect in Chinese natural reading. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02894-7. [PMID: 38995494 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02894-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
Word frequency effect has always been of interest for reading research because of its critical role in exploring mental processing underlying reading behaviors. Access to word frequency information has long been considered an indicator of the beginning of lexical processing and the most sensitive marker for studying when the brain begins to extract semantic information Sereno & Rayner, Brain and Cognition, 42, 78-81, (2000), Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 489-493, (2003). While the word frequency effect has been extensively studied in numerous eye-tracking and traditional EEG research using the RSVP paradigm, there is a lack of corresponding evidence in studies of natural reading. To find the neural correlates of the word frequency effect, we conducted a study of Chinese natural reading using EEG and eye-tracking coregistration to examine the time course of lexical processing. Our results reliably showed that the word frequency effect first appeared in the N200 time window and the bilateral occipitotemporal regions. Additionally, the word frequency effect was reflected in the N400 time window, spreading from the occipital region to the central parietal and frontal regions. Our current study provides the first neural correlates for word-frequency effect in natural Chinese reading so far, shedding new light on understanding lexical processing in natural reading and could serve as an important basis for further reading study when considering neural correlates in a realistic manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolin Mei
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China
- School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Shuyuan Chen
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China
| | - Xinyi Xia
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China
| | - Bo Yang
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China
| | - Yanping Liu
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
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Melcher D, Alaberkyan A, Anastasaki C, Liu X, Deodato M, Marsicano G, Almeida D. An early effect of the parafoveal preview on post-saccadic processing of English words. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02916-4. [PMID: 38956003 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02916-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
A key aspect of efficient visual processing is to use current and previous information to make predictions about what we will see next. In natural viewing, and when looking at words, there is typically an indication of forthcoming visual information from extrafoveal areas of the visual field before we make an eye movement to an object or word of interest. This "preview effect" has been studied for many years in the word reading literature and, more recently, in object perception. Here, we integrated methods from word recognition and object perception to investigate the timing of the preview on neural measures of word recognition. Through a combined use of EEG and eye-tracking, a group of multilingual participants took part in a gaze-contingent, single-shot saccade experiment in which words appeared in their parafoveal visual field. In valid preview trials, the same word was presented during the preview and after the saccade, while in the invalid condition, the saccade target was a number string that turned into a word during the saccade. As hypothesized, the valid preview greatly reduced the fixation-related evoked response. Interestingly, multivariate decoding analyses revealed much earlier preview effects than previously reported for words, and individual decoding performance correlated with participant reading scores. These results demonstrate that a parafoveal preview can influence relatively early aspects of post-saccadic word processing and help to resolve some discrepancies between the word and object literatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Melcher
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Center for Brain and Health, NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Ani Alaberkyan
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Chrysi Anastasaki
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Xiaoyi Liu
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Washington Rd, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Michele Deodato
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Center for Brain and Health, NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Gianluca Marsicano
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40121, Bologna, Italy
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Via Rasi e Spinelli 176, 47023, Cesena, Italy
| | - Diogo Almeida
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Huang X, Wong BWL, Ng HTY, Sommer W, Dimigen O, Maurer U. Neural mechanism underlying preview effects and masked priming effects in visual word processing. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02904-8. [PMID: 38956004 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02904-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
Two classic experimental paradigms - masked repetition priming and the boundary paradigm - have played a pivotal role in understanding the process of visual word recognition. Traditionally, these paradigms have been employed by different communities of researchers, with their own long-standing research traditions. Nevertheless, a review of the literature suggests that the brain-electric correlates of word processing established with both paradigms may show interesting similarities, in particular with regard to the location, timing, and direction of N1 and N250 effects. However, as of yet, no direct comparison has been undertaken between the two paradigms. In the current study, we used combined eye-tracking/EEG to perform such a within-subject comparison using the same materials (single Chinese characters) as stimuli. To facilitate direct comparisons, we used a simplified version of the boundary paradigm - the single word boundary paradigm. Our results show the typical early repetition effects of N1 and N250 for both paradigms. However, repetition effects in N250 (i.e., a reduced negativity following identical-word primes/previews as compared to different-word primes/previews) were larger with the single word boundary paradigm than with masked priming. For N1 effects, repetition effects were similar across the two paradigms, showing a larger N1 after repetitions as compared to alternations. Therefore, the results indicate that at the neural level, a briefly presented and masked foveal prime produces qualitatively similar facilitatory effects on visual word recognition as a parafoveal preview before a single saccade, although such effects appear to be stronger in the latter case.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Huang
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sino Building 3/F, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Brian W L Wong
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sino Building 3/F, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR, China
- BCBL, Basque Center on Brain, Language and Cognition, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Hezul Tin-Yan Ng
- Wofoo Joseph Lee Consulting and Counselling Psychology Research Centre, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Werner Sommer
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jin Hua, China
- Department of Physics and Life Science Imaging Centre, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Olaf Dimigen
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2-1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.
- The Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
| | - Urs Maurer
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sino Building 3/F, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
- Centre for Developmental Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
- Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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Li N, Wang S, Kornrumpf F, Sommer W, Dimigen O. Parafoveal and foveal N400 effects in natural reading: A timeline of semantic processing from fixation-related potentials. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14524. [PMID: 38297818 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
The depth at which parafoveal words are processed during reading is an ongoing topic of debate. Recent studies using RSVP-with-flanker paradigms have shown that implausible words within sentences elicit an N400 component while they are still in parafoveal vision, suggesting that the semantics of parafoveal words can be accessed to rapidly update the sentence representation. To study this effect in natural reading, we combined the coregistration of eye movements and EEG with the deconvolution modeling of fixation-related potentials (FRPs) to test whether semantic plausibility is processed parafoveally during Chinese sentence reading. For one target word per sentence, both its parafoveal and foveal plausibility were orthogonally manipulated using the boundary paradigm. Consistent with previous eye movement studies, we observed a delayed effect of parafoveal plausibility on fixation durations that only emerged on the foveal word. Crucially, in FRPs aligned to the pretarget fixation, a clear N400 effect emerged already based on parafoveal plausibility, with more negative voltages for implausible previews. Once participants fixated the target, we again observed an N400 effect of foveal plausibility. Interestingly, this foveal N400 was absent whenever the preview had been implausible, indicating that when a word's (im)plausibility is already processed in parafoveal vision, this information is not revised anymore upon direct fixation. Implausible words also elicited a late positive component (LPC), but exclusively when in foveal vision. Our results not only provide convergent neural and behavioral evidence for the parafoveal uptake of semantic information, but also indicate different contributions of parafoveal versus foveal information toward higher level sentence processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Li
- School of Foreign Studies, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Language Cognition and Assessment, Guangzhou, China
| | - Suiping Wang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
| | - Florian Kornrumpf
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Werner Sommer
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jin Hua, China
- Department of Physics and Life Sciences Imaging Center, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Olaf Dimigen
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Antúnez M, Milligan S, Hernández-Cabrera JA, Barber HA, Schotter ER. Semantic parafoveal processing in natural reading: Insight from fixation-related potentials & eye movements. Psychophysiology 2021; 59:e13986. [PMID: 34942021 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Prior research suggests that we may access the meaning of parafoveal words during reading. We explored how semantic-plausibility parafoveal processing takes place in natural reading through the co-registration of eye movements (EM) and fixation-related potentials (FRPs), using the boundary paradigm. We replicated previous evidence of semantic parafoveal processing from highly controlled reading situations, extending their findings to more ecologically valid reading scenarios. Additionally, and exploring the time-course of plausibility preview effects, we found distinct but complementary evidence from EM and FRPs measures. FRPs measures, showing a different trend than EM evidence, revealed that plausibility preview effects may be long-lasting. We highlight the importance of a co-registration set-up in ecologically valid scenarios to disentangle the mechanisms related to semantic-plausibility parafoveal processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martín Antúnez
- Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Sara Milligan
- Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | | | - Horacio A Barber
- Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.,Institute for Biomedical Technologies (ITB), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.,Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), San Sebastián, Spain
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Degno F, Liversedge SP. Eye Movements and Fixation-Related Potentials in Reading: A Review. Vision (Basel) 2020; 4:E11. [PMID: 32028566 PMCID: PMC7157570 DOI: 10.3390/vision4010011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2019] [Revised: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The present review is addressed to researchers in the field of reading and psycholinguistics who are both familiar with and new to co-registration research of eye movements (EMs) and fixation related-potentials (FRPs) in reading. At the outset, we consider a conundrum relating to timing discrepancies between EM and event related potential (ERP) effects. We then consider the extent to which the co-registration approach might allow us to overcome this and thereby discriminate between formal theoretical and computational accounts of reading. We then describe three phases of co-registration research before evaluating the existing body of such research in reading. The current, ongoing phase of co-registration research is presented in comprehensive tables which provide a detailed summary of the existing findings. The thorough appraisal of the published studies allows us to engage with issues such as the reliability of FRP components as correlates of cognitive processing in reading and the advantages of analysing both data streams (i.e., EMs and FRPs) simultaneously relative to each alone, as well as the current, and limited, understanding of the relationship between EM and FRP measures. Finally, we consider future directions and in particular the potential of analytical methods involving deconvolution and the potential of measurement of brain oscillatory activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Degno
- School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Marsh Ln, Preston PR1 2HE, UK;
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