Semantisk mättnad beskrivs som en tillfällig meningsförlust efter hög upprepning av ett ord. Denna mättnad kan mätas med hjälp av N400, en differensvåg som beräknas utifrån elektroencefalografi (EEG) och uppnås när ett ord avviker från en semantisk kontext. N400 uppnås därför inte vid ord från samma semantiska kontext. En tidigare studie visade N400 vid 3 repetitioner av ett ord men ingen vid 30. Detta tyder på semantisk mättnad efter 30 repetitioner. Syftet med denna studie var att mäta om semantisk mättnad kan uppnås redan vid 15 repetitioner. Detta mättes genom att olika ord repeterades 3, 15 eller 30 gånger för 8 deltagare för att etablera en kontext. På grund av det låga antalet deltagare simulerades data för ytterligare 20 deltagare. Därefter visades ett målord som antingen var relaterat eller orelaterat till det första ordet. Ett t-test på stickprovsmedelvärdet gav inget stöd för N400 vid 3 eller 30 repetitioner, endast vid 15 repetitioner. Med hjälp av beroende t-tester kunde vi fastställa en signifikant minskning av N400 från 15 till 30 repetitioner. Resultaten pekar på att semantisk mättnad sker gradvis och fortsätter även efter 15 repetitioner. Dock bör resultatet tolkas med viss reservation eftersom ingen N400 visades vid 3 repetitioner, trots att N400 bör ha varit störst där.

Mudas ou sementes podem ser utilizadas em projetos de restauração, sendo que, o uso da semente por meio da semeadura direta tem vantagem em função da redução do custo, pois não há gastos para a formação inicial da muda, por proporcionar a reconstituição do banco de sementes do solo e possibilitar a formação de uma comunidade heterogênea. Portanto, nessa pesquisa foram avaliadas as sementes de quatro espécies de recobrimento, Apeiba tibourbou, Heliocarpus popayanensis, Senna alata e Senna multijuga, para a utilização na semeadura direta, associada aos estudos da aplicação das técnicas do priming e da interferência da profundidade de semeadura na emergência da plântula. O estudo dos métodos de priming incluiu a hidratação das sementes em água (imersão e entre papel) e em soluções -0,1 MPa e -0,6MPa de PEG 6000 (entre papel), sendo que parte das sementes foi avaliada ainda úmida quanto à germinação, parte foi seca até graus de umidade semelhantes aos obtidos antes da realização do priming e parte foi seca e armazenada para ser semeada após 45 dias. A determinação da qualidade das sementes foi baseada nos resultados dos testes de germinação e de emergência da plântula e foram calculados os totais, em porcentagem, o índice de velocidade de germinação (IVG) e o tempo médio de germinação (TMG). Para o estudo da profundidade de semeadura foi avaliada a distribuição superficial das sementes 0 (superficial) e 0,5 cm, 1,0 cm e 2,0 cm e determinados a emergência da plântula, o IVEP e o TMEP. O estudo da absorção de água das sementes indicou que os teores de água, na fase II da germinação, são 48 a 55% para as sementes de A. tibourbou e 55 a 60% para as de S. alata e de S. multijuga. Em função dos resultados dessa pesquisa, o priming não beneficia a germinação das sementes de A. tibourbou e de H. popayanensis. A utilização da solução -0,1 MPa de PEG 6000 reduz o tempo de germinação das sementes de S. alata, quando avaliadas úmidas. Esse mesmo método é eficiente para o priming das sementes de S. multijuga, avaliadas após a secagem. As sementes de S. alata e S. multijuga são recomendadas para semeadura direta em projetos de restauração ecológica, desde que, seja superada a dormência dessas sementes. A profundidade ideal de semeadura é 1 a 2 cm para as sementes de A. tibourbou, de 0,5 cm para as de H. popayanensis, de 1 cm para as de S. alata e de 1 a 2 cm para as sementes de S. multijuga. / Seedlings or seeds can be used in reforestation projects and the use of seed through direct sowing has the advantage because there is no cost for the initial formation of the seedlings and additionally it provides enriching soil seed bank and the possibility of a heterogeneous community formation. Then, in this research were evaluated the seeds of four pioneer species, Apeiba tibourbou, Heliocarpus popayanensis, Senna alata and Senna multijuga, for direct sowing associated with the priming techniques and the study of the interference of sowing depth in the emergence of seedling. The study of priming methods included seed hydration (water immersion and between paper water moistened) and the use of PEG 6000 solutions (- 0,6MPa and -0.1MPa between paper). For evaluations, these seeds were sown still wet and after dry; furthermore, the dry seeds were stored for evaluation after 45 days. The determination of the seed quality was based on the results of seed germination and seedling emergence. In the study of seed sowing the seeds were sowing on surface and in 0.5 cm, 1.0 cm and 2.0 cm depth, and these results were based on seedling emergence. This research results indicated the possibility of using S. alata and S. multijuga seeds for direct sowing. There are benefits of using seed priming for S. alata and S. multijuga seeds. Appropriate sowing depth for these seeds are 0.5 cm, 1.0 cm or 2.0 cm; seed surface sowing is not recommended.

Este trabalho tem como tema a aquisição do constituinte-QU in situ por crianças adquirindo o Português Brasileiro (doravante PB). Tal construção é encontrada em outras línguas também e, de modo análogo ao PB, é aparentemente opcional no Espanhol e no Francês. Realizando um paralelo entre os estudos de outras línguas e o PB, analisamos a frequência da construção na fala infantil no PB, comparada à fala adulta, e, principalmente, os contextos que favorecem sua produção, em oposição à contraparte movida. Para tanto, utilizamos uma metodologia experimental que elicia perguntas em contextos sem e com Common Ground (informação previamente compartilhada) e com priming sintático (fenômeno em que a exposição a uma sentença facilita o processamento de uma outra sentença com estrutura igual ou similar), com o objetivo de verificar em quais contextos a produção de QU-in situ é facilitada. Além disso, observamos também a escolha da estratégia de pergunta diante da influência exercida pelo estatuto do elemento-QU (como adjunto ou argumento). Os resultados das análises quantitativas sugerem que, na fala infantil, há um favorecimento do QU-in situ em contextos de Common Ground. Também ficou clara a influência do priming sintático na fala de ambos os grupos, infantil e adulto. Podemos dizer, então, que a metodologia obteve sucesso na eliciação da construção estudada e evidenciou que as perguntas com QU-in situ e QU-movido, embora aparentemente opcionais, não são intercambiáveis, já que o primeiro tipo de pergunta ocorreria na fala infantil apenas em um contexto pragmático específico. / This study explores the acquisition of Wh-questions in which the whconstituent remains in situ by children acquiring Brazilian Portuguese (henceforth BP). Such construction is found in other languages as well and, like in BP, it is optional in Spanish and in French. Drawing a parallel between the studies of other languages and BP, we analyze the frequency of the construction in child speech, compared to the adult speech, and, most importantly, the contexts that favor its production, in opposition to its moved counterpart. In order to do so, we used an experimental methodology that elicits questions in contexts with and without Common Ground (previously shared information) and contexts with syntactic Priming (phenomenon in which the exposure to an utterance facilitates the processing of another utterance with the same or similar structure), with the purpose of checking which contexts facilitate the production of Wh-in situ. Besides that, we also investigated the choice of question strategy in face of the influence imposed by the status of the wh-element (as adjunct or argument). Results of the quantitative analyses suggest that, in child speech,Wh-in situ is favored in contexts of Common Ground. It also has been clear that theres an influence of the syntactic Priming in both adult and child speech. Therefore, we point out that the methodology was successful in eliciting Wh-in situ questions and has made it clear that Wh-in situ and moved Wh, although apparently optional, are not interchangeable, since the first one is bound to a specific pragmatic context in child speech.

Models employed in exercise psychology highlight the role of reflective processes for explaining behavior change. However, as discussed in social cognition literature, information-processing models also consider automatic processes (dual-process models). To examine the relevance of automatic processing in exercise psychology, we used a priming task to assess the automatic evaluations of exercise stimuli in physically active sport and exercise majors (n = 32), physically active nonsport majors (n = 31), and inactive students (n = 31). Results showed that physically active students responded faster to positive words after exercise primes, whereas inactive students responded more rapidly to negative words. Priming task reaction times were successfully used to predict reported amounts of exercise in an ordinal regression model. Findings were obtained only with experiential items reflecting negative and positive consequences of exercise. The results illustrate the potential importance of dual-process models in exercise psychology.

This study investigates how Persian compound verbs are processed in the mental lexicon, through which we can infer how they are stored, organized, and accessed. The study focuses on investigating Persian compound verbs in light of psycholinguistic theories on polymorphemic word processing as well as linguistic theories of complex predicates. The psycholinguistic section details three experiments addressing the following three research questions: (1) whether compound verb constituents show significant priming in the masked-priming paradigm; (2) whether priming effects are constrained by semantic transparency; and (3) whether priming effects are due to morphological relatedness. This study revealed several findings: (1) compound verbs in Persian are decomposed into their constituents at early stages of processing, (2) at early stages of processing, decomposition is based on purely orthographic similarity, (3) although both transparent and opaque compound constituents were facilitated while processing, transparency had an impact on processing in the early stages of processing. Finally, the findings seem to support a parallel input effect or competing alternative effect for the verbal constituent of the transparent compound verb, as reflected in the slower facilitation for the verbal constituent compared to the nominal constituent. In theoretical studies on Persian complex predicates, the compound verb formation can be either lexical or syntactic. The overall evidence reflected in the linguistic data for Persian complex predicates presented in this dissertation as well as the results of the experimental studies carried out in this research seem to point towards lexical compounding in Persian compound verb formation. The evidence comes from (1) the nominalization of the compound, i.e. the possibility of using the compound verb as a noun; (2) the atelicity feature, i.e. the possibility of using the compound verb after the progressive expression dar haale ‘in the process of’, which indicates an incomplete action; and (3) the nonreferentiality of the nominal constituent in the compound verb, i.e. the nominal constituent cannot be followed by a pronoun that refers to it. On the other hand, the results of the experimental studies reported in this dissertation seem to support a lexical approach to compound verbs in Persian. The technique used in these experimental studies was masked priming paradigm, which investigates the prelexical and lexical processing. The results reveal constituent priming effects under masked priming technique. This indicates that Persian compound verb constituents are accessed at the prelexical stage of processing. Syntactic calculations are said to be done at later stages of processing. Therefore, the early processing of compound verb constituents leads us to the argument for the lexicality of Persian compound verbs.

Compounding, constructing new words out of previously known words by means of simple concatenation mostly, can be counted as one of the major word production mechanisms in the majority of languages. Their importance in the history of human languages warrants a detailed study with respect to the language faculty and related cognitive aspects. In the last decade, compound production as well as comprehension have become highly debated and investigated areas of research. Morphological priming is one frequently employed paradigm for the investigation of compounding. Whether morphologically complex words undergo a decomposition-composition process, respectively, during comprehension and production or whether they are all listed in full form in the lexicon is one key question hitherto addressed in several studies related to English, German, Dutch and Chinese nominal compound words. The present study is concerned with compound production in Turkish. Various types of Turkish compounds were investigated ((i) bare JCs (

The present study sought to investigate the extent to which masked semantic priming is an automatic process and whether its effects vary depending upon the type of stimuli used. Recent studies have shown that there is a differential priming effect for prime-target pairs with different types of semantic relationships. Here, using a semantic categorization task with masked priming, we compared the effects of synonym, antonym,and associatively related non-exemplar prime-target pairs when presented at different stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). Participants took a prime visibility posttest in conjunction with the categorization task which served as a measure of "partial awareness" of the prime. The results here indicate that differences in perceptual awareness may produce differential semantic priming patterns across the semantic relationships and SOAs considered. Potential mechanisms for this divergence are proposed.

Most bilingual lexical models assume that L1 and L2 either share the same semantic system, or are distinguished at the semantic level but connected through lexical associations. For example, the Revised Hierarchical Model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994) assumes the stronger access from L2 to concepts via the L1 lexical representation at the early stage of L2 acquisition and direct access to concepts after L2 proficiency is achieved. However, the model is not well supported by subsequent empirical evidence, and encounters difficulty in explaining cross-language priming data. The recently developed Sense Model (Finkbeiner, M., Forster, K., Nicol, J., & Nakamura, K., 2004) assumes a direct access from the L2 form to its related meaning and argues for the representational asymmetry in lexical semantics between L1 and L2. This model was designed to account for the translation asymmetry and task effect in the masked priming literature: L2-L1 priming is not observed in lexical decision due to the small proportion of L1 senses activated by the L2 prime; however, the category provides a context which restricts L1 sense activation and thus enhances the effectiveness of the L2 prime in semantic categorization. This dissertation reports the results of several semantic categorization experiments designed to test several assumptions of the Sense Model. Experiments 1-4 investigated whether the Category Restriction Hypothesis assumed by the Sense Model was empirically supported when congruence effects are minimized. The results showed that translation priming could be obtained for exemplars when congruence effects were controlled, but that there were no effects for non-exemplars, as predicted by the Sense Model. Subsequent experiments showed that category size is an important variable, since L2-L1 priming was not obtained with large categories (e.g., living thing), which was taken to indicate that a large category is ineffective as a 'focusing' device to enhance the activation of L2 semantic senses. Finally, it was shown that the priming asymmetry in lexical decision was not due to differential degrees of semantic activation of the prime in L1 and L2.

No description available.

Three sets of experiments were designed to test Marcel's (1983ab) claim that backward pattern masked word primes are processed automatically and without awareness to a level of representation where the meaning of the word is identified. In the first set of experiments, Marcel's critical SOA procedure for determining an awareness threshold was found to be unsatisfactory. There was no evidence for semantic priming effects when more trials were used to determine the critical SOA. In the second and third sets of experiments, awareness of backward pattern masked primes was determined by subject's report of the prime. Conconscious priming effects from prior presentation of the target word in a lexical decision task, and the solution in an anagram solving task, were substantial and robust. Nonconscious semantic priming effects were small but were significant in both tasks when presentation was dichoptic. Nonconscious semantic priming effects in the anagram solving task were obtained under some conditions of binocular presentation. Priming effects are discussed with reference to word perception, reading, and theories of consciousness. One conclusion is that nonconscious automatic priming effects are "selective" and are far from being ubiquitous. This view of heterogeneous nonconscious selective priming does not support Marcel's (1983b) claim that nonconscious processing produces homogeneous activation to the highest level in all representations connected with the stimulus event.