English Lexicon Project

这个词对于人类交流的核心，就像细胞对于生物学一样重要。为了加深我们对大脑如何处理单词的理解，研究人员在很大程度上依赖于测量处理单词速度的任务。这些任务分别是快速命名和快速词汇决定，前者是衡量一个人大声说出一个视觉呈现的单词的速度，后者是要求人们判断一个字母串是单词还是非单词。不幸的是，由于这些任务中可用于字处理的数据量有限，这方面的研究受到了一定程度的阻碍。目前的项目将填补这一空白。英语词典项目将积累一大套(超过2500万人的行为估计)针对1200名受试者的42,000个单词的快速命名和词汇决定反应。这将通过协调全国主要研究机构的六个考点来实现。这些数据将被整合到一个更大的数据库中，该数据库将包括对变量(例如，在语言中出现的频率)的估计，这些变量对于我们理解大脑如何处理单词至关重要。然后，一个高速服务器将使这个大型数据库通过互联网提供给世界各地的研究人员。一个灵活的程序将促进对该数据集的访问和搜索，该程序将提供对具有特定约束的任何项目或项目集的方便和快速的访问。英语词典项目的受众将包括以下研究人员：首先，计算模型师现在将有一个大型的标准化经验数据库来提供他们的模型的测试。其次，对特定变量的影响感兴趣的研究人员(包括那些对阅读教育者感兴趣的人)可以很容易地在数据库中测试这些影响。第三，使用文字作为主要刺激的研究人员将能够选择更好控制的刺激。稍后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，英语词典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.