English Lexicon Project

语言对于人类交流的重要性，就像细胞对于生物学的重要性一样。 在发展我们对大脑如何处理单词的理解时，研究人员在很大程度上依赖于测量处理单词速度的任务。 这些任务是快速命名，其中一个测量一个人能多快地说出一个视觉呈现的单词，以及快速词汇判断，其中人们被要求决定一个字母串是单词还是非单词。 不幸的是，在这方面的研究已经受到了一定程度的阻碍，在这些任务中的文字处理可用的数据量有限。 目前的项目将填补这一空白。 英语词汇项目将收集大量（超过2500万个行为估计）的快速命名和词汇决策反应，涉及1200名受试者的42，000个单词。 这将通过协调全国主要研究机构的六个试验点来实现。 这些数据将被整合到一个更大的数据库中，其中将包括变量的估计值（例如，在语言中出现的频率），这对我们理解大脑如何处理单词至关重要。 然后，一个高速服务器将通过互联网向全世界的研究人员提供这一大型数据库。 将通过一个灵活的程序便利对这一数据集的访问和搜索，该程序将提供对具有特定限制的任何项目或项目集的方便和快速访问。 英语词汇项目的受众将包括以下研究人员：首先，计算建模者现在将拥有一个大型标准化的经验数据库，以提供对其模型的测试。 其次，研究人员（包括那些对阅读教育工作者感兴趣的人）对特定变量的影响感兴趣，可以很容易地在数据库中测试这些变量。 第三，研究人员使用文字作为他们的主要刺激将能够选择更好地控制刺激。 这个后来的目标受众将包括记忆研究人员，神经心理学家和对大脑成像感兴趣的研究人员。 最终，英语词汇项目将为我们理解大脑如何处理单词提供黄金标准。

The word is as central to human communication as the cell is to biology. In developing our understanding of how the brain processes words, researchers have relied heavily on tasks that measure the speed of processing words. These tasks are speeded naming, in which one measures how quickly a person can name a visually presented word aloud, and speeded lexical decision in which people are asked to decide if a letter string is a word or nonword. Unfortunately, research in this area has been somewhat hindered by the limited amount of data available for word processing in these tasks. The current project will fill this void. The English Lexicon Project will amass a large set (over 25 million behavioral estimates) of speeded naming and lexical decision responses for 42,000 words across 1200 subjects. This will be accomplished via the coordination of six testing sites at major research institutions across the country. These data will be integrated within a larger database that will include estimates of variables (e.g., frequency of occurrence in the language) that have been central to our understanding of how the brain processes words. A high-speed server will then make this large database available to researchers worldwide via the Internet. Access and search of this data set will be facilitated by a flexible program, which will provide easy and fast access to any items or sets of items with specified constraints. The audience for the English Lexicon Project will include the following researchers: First, computational modelers will now have a large standardized empirical database to provide tests of their models. Second, researchers (including those interested in reading educators) interested in effects of specific variables can easily test these in the database. Third, researchers who use words as their primary stimuli will be able to select better-controlled stimuli. This later targeted audience will include memory researchers, neuropsychologists, and researchers interested in brain imaging. Ultimately, the English Lexicon Project will provide the gold standard for our understanding of how the brain processes words.