Word-meaning priming extends beyond homonyms
Word-meaning priming extends beyond homonyms
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105175
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发表时间：
2022-09-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Gaskell，M. Gareth
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Curtis，Adam J.;Mak，Matthew H. C.;Gaskell，M. Gareth
当一个同音异义词（例如，bark）在句子语境中出现时，它的解释倾向于一个不太常见的意思，随后对这个词的解释更有可能倾向于那个从属的意思。这种词义启动效应已被证明是通过与睡眠相关的巩固来维持的，这导致一些人认为陈述性记忆系统在语言理解中起着至关重要的作用，为模棱两可的单词提供了相对持久的上下文约束记忆痕迹。根据这种说法，词义启动效应应该对所有单词都是可见的，而不仅仅是同音异义词。在三个实验中，参与者被暴露在非同音目标（例如，“气球”）的句子中，这些句子对单词的特定含义有偏见的解释（例如，气球-氦气和气球-浮）。在大约10-30分钟的延迟后，被试进行相关性判断和关联产生任务，以评估句子上下文是否增强了对词的启动方面的理解。结果表明，词义启动效应确实延伸到非同音异义词。事实上，也有一些证据表明，更广义的启动并不依赖于非同音词本身的先前呈现。我们认为，在识别过程中保持对单词的上下文特定解释，以促进更长时间的理解。
When a homonym (e.g.,bark) is encountered in a sentential context that biases its interpretation towards a less frequent meaning, subsequent interpretations of the word are more likely to favour that subordinate meaning. Such word-meaning priming effects have been shown to be maintained via sleep-related consolidation, leading some to suggest that declarative memory systems play a crucial role in language comprehension, providing a relatively enduring contextually bound memory trace for the ambiguous word. By this account, word-meaning priming effects should be observable for all words, not just homonyms. In three experiments, participants were exposed to non-homonym targets (e.g., “balloon”) in sentences that biased interpretation towards a specific aspect of the word's meaning (e.g.,balloon‑heliumvs.balloon-float). After a ~ 10–30 min delay, the targets were presented in relatedness judgement and associate production tasks to assess whether the sentential contexts enhanced access to the primed aspect of the word's meaning. The results reveal that word-meaning priming effects do extend to non-homonyms. Indeed, there was also some evidence of a more generalised priming that did not rely on prior presentation of the non-homonym itself. We argue that context-specific interpretations of words are maintained during recognition in order to facilitate comprehension over longer periods.