Orthographic influences in spoken word recognition: the consistency effect in semantic and gender categorization tasks

The role of word form in gender processing during lexical access: A theoretical review and novel proposal in language comprehension

In contrast to language production, there are few comprehension models of the representation and use of grammatical gender in long-term memory. To bridge this gap, we conducted a systematic review of empirical studies on the role of gender-form regularities in the recognition of nouns in isolation and within sentences. The results of a final sample of 40 studies suggest that there are two routes for the retrieval of gender during real-time comprehension: a form-based route and a lexical-based route. Our review indicates that the use of these routes depends on the degree of gender transparency of the language and the degree of overtness of the experimental paradigm. To accommodate these findings, we incorporate a dual-route mechanism within a general model of lexical access in comprehension, the AUSTRAL (Activation Using Structurally Tiered Representations and Lemmas) model, and identify directions for future research.

Orthographic influences on spoken word recognition in bilinguals are dependent on the orthographic depth of the target language not the native language

Reading acquisition leads to the restructuring of representational units in the brain, which influences spoken word processing. This makes spoken word recognition a bimodal process. However, the organization of phonological and orthographic units is dependent on the orthographic depth of the writing system and might play a role in the bimodal processing of spoken words. We investigated this question across two EEG experiments with German native speakers using an auditory priming paradigm and manipulating phonological (e.g., Reh - Tee) and orthographic (e.g., See - Tee) overlap between prime and target. Experiment 1 was conducted in German and revealed inhibitory effects for orthographic overlap, but facilitating effects for phonological overlap. Experiment 2 was conducted in English and revealed facilitating effects for orthographic and phonological overlap. We conclude that orthography influences spoken word processing in both languages, but the nature of the influence is dependent on the orthographic depth of the target language.

Neural correlates of phonology-to-orthography mapping consistency effects on Chinese spoken word recognition

Previous studies have shown that reading experience reshapes speech processing. The orthography can be implemented in the brain by restructuring the phonological representations or being co-activated during spoken word recognition. This study utilized event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging and functional connectivity analysis to examine the neural mechanism underlying two types of orthographic effects in the Chinese auditory semantic category task, namely phonology-to-orthography consistency (POC) and homophone density (HD). We found that the POC effects originated from the speech network, suggesting that sublexical orthographic information could change the organization of preexisting phonological representations when learning to read. Meanwhile, the HD effects were localized to the left fusiform and lingual gyrus, suggesting that lexical orthographic knowledge may be activated online during spoken word recognition. These results demonstrated the different natures and neural mechanisms for the POC and HD effects on Chinese spoken word recognition.

The Effect of Orthographic Transparency on Auditory Word Recognition Across the Development of Reading Proficiency

A question under debate in psycholinguistics is the nature of the relationship between spoken and written languages. Although it has been extensively shown that orthographic transparency, which varies across writing systems, strongly affects reading performance, its role in speech processing is much less investigated. The present study addressed this issue in Persian, whose writing system provides a possibility to assess the impact of orthographic transparency on spoken word recognition in young children at different stages of reading acquisition. In Persian, the long vowels are systematically present in the script, whereas the spelling correspondence of short vowels is progressively omitted from the script in the course of reading acquisition, thus, turning transparent into opaque spelling. Based on this unique characteristic, we tested 144 monolingual Persian-speaking nonreaders (i.e., preschoolers) and readers (second graders to fifth graders and young adults) in an auditory lexical decision task using transparent and opaque words. Overall, the results showed that, in accordance with the fact that the diacritics of short vowels are progressively omitted during the second year of schooling, the stimuli containing short vowels (opaque words) were recognized more slowly than transparent ones in third graders. Interestingly, there is a hint that the emergence of the transparency effect in the third graders was associated with an overall slower recognition speed in this group compared to their younger peers. These findings indicate that learning opaque spelling-sound correspondence might not only generate interference between the two language codes but also induce a general processing cost in the entire spoken language system.

The sound of reading: Color-to-timbre substitution boosts reading performance via OVAL, a novel auditory orthography optimized for visual-to-auditory mapping

Reading is a unique human cognitive skill and its acquisition was proven to extensively affect both brain organization and neuroanatomy. Differently from western sighted individuals, literacy rates via tactile reading systems, such as Braille, are declining, thus imposing an alarming threat to literacy among non-visual readers. This decline is due to many reasons including the length of training needed to master Braille, which must also include extensive tactile sensitivity exercises, the lack of proper Braille instruction and the high costs of Braille devices. The far-reaching consequences of low literacy rates, raise the need to develop alternative, cheap and easy-to-master non-visual reading systems. To this aim, we developed OVAL, a new auditory orthography based on a visual-to-auditory sensory-substitution algorithm. Here we present its efficacy for successful words-reading, and investigation of the extent to which redundant features defining characters (i.e., adding specific colors to letters conveyed into audition via different musical instruments) facilitate or impede auditory reading outcomes. Thus, we tested two groups of blindfolded sighted participants who were either exposed to a monochromatic or to a color version of OVAL. First, we showed that even before training, all participants were able to discriminate between 11 OVAL characters significantly more than chance level. Following 6 hours of specific OVAL training, participants were able to identify all the learned characters, differentiate them from untrained letters, and read short words/pseudo-words of up to 5 characters. The Color group outperformed the Monochromatic group in all tasks, suggesting that redundant characters' features are beneficial for auditory reading. Overall, these results suggest that OVAL is a promising auditory-reading tool that can be used by blind individuals, by people with reading deficits as well as for the investigation of reading specific processing dissociated from the visual modality.

Seeing thought: a cultural cognitive tool

The present paper, which is the first of two twin opinion papers, offers a theoretical approach of literacy and critical literacy in relation to language, thought, and reasoning. Literacy acquisition and practice proceed through two stages, which partially overlap in terms of processing abilities: the first is achieved when the learner becomes a skilled reader and writer, characterized by automatic word processing; the second, when reading comprehension and written production become expert instruments in the communication of progressively more abstract and sophisticated, but always linguistically-mediated, knowledge and ideas. The destiny of literacy, depending on educational and social factors, is thus to be to fused with language, thought and reasoning. Oral language becomes literate language; and our cognitive activity becomes—as indicated in the title—“seeing thought”, which paves the way, we will argue, for reasoning skills. Making of literacy an epistemic and social tool of our own collective history requires a critical stance that raises itself and ourselves to a stage called critical literacy. In this paper we focus on some of the favorable and unfavorable factors influencing this achievement. The main challenge is to bring literate cognition up to the capacity of choosing between accept and verify, between belief and disbelief, by weighting evidence and reasoning, by arguing and debunking errors and falsities. Accordingly, our objective is essentially to narrate how literacy gives birth to critical literacy and explain why, at the end of this process, critical literacy becomes hard to distinguish from thinking and reasoning.

Consistency norms for 37,677 english words

Consistency reflects the mapping between spelling and sound. That is, a word is feedforward consistent if its pronunciation matches that of similarly spelled words, and feedback consistent if its spelling matches that of similar pronounced words. For a quasi-regular language such as English, the study of consistency effects on lexical processing has been limited by the lack of readily accessible norms. In order to improve current methodological resources, feedforward (spelling-to-sound) and feedback (sound-to-spelling) consistency measures for 37,677 English words were computed. The consistency measures developed here are operationalized at the composite level for multisyllabic words, and at different sub-syllabic segments (onset, nucleus, coda, oncleus, and rime) for both monosyllabic and multisyllabic words. These measures constitute the largest database of English consistency norms to be developed, and will be a valuable resource for researchers to explore the effects of consistency on lexical processes, such as word recognition and spelling. The norms are available as supplementary material with this paper.

The role of sublexical variables in reading fluency development among Spanish children

Several studies have found that, after repeated exposure to new words, children form orthographic representations that allow them to read those words faster and more fluently. However, these studies did not take into account variables related to the words. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sublexical variables on the formation of orthographic representations of words by Spanish children. The first experiment used pseudo-words of varying syllabic structure and syllabic frequency. The stimuli for the second experiment were formed with or without context-dependent graphemes. We found that formation of orthographic representations was influenced by syllabic structure (easier for words with simple syllabic structure) and the context-dependency of graphemes (easier in the absence of context-dependent graphemes), but not syllabic frequency. These results indicate that the easier it is to read a word, the easier it is to form an orthographic representation of it.

Orthographic Activation in L2 Spoken Word Recognition Depends on Proficiency: Evidence from Eye-Tracking

The use of orthographic and phonological information in spoken word recognition was studied in a visual world task where L1 Finnish learners of L2 French (n = 64) and L1 French native speakers (n = 24) were asked to match spoken word forms with printed words while their eye movements were recorded. In Experiment 1, French target words were contrasted with competitors having a longer ( vs. ) or a shorter word initial phonological overlap ( vs. ) and an identical orthographic overlap. In Experiment 2, target words were contrasted with competitors of either longer ( vs. ) or shorter word initial orthographic overlap ( vs. ) and of an identical phonological overlap. A general phonological effect was observed in the L2 listener group but not in the L1 control group. No general orthographic effects were observed in the L2 or L1 groups, but a significant effect of proficiency was observed for orthographic overlap over time: higher proficiency L2 listeners used also orthographic information in the matching task in a time-window from 400 to 700 ms, whereas no such effect was observed for lower proficiency listeners. These results suggest that the activation of orthographic information in L2 spoken word recognition depends on proficiency in L2.

Neural Correlates of Morphological Processing: Evidence from Chinese

Morphological decomposition is an important part of complex word processing. In Chinese, this requires a comprehensive consideration of phonological, orthographic and morphemic information. The left inferior frontal gyrus (L-IFG) has been implicated in this process in alphabetic languages. However, it is unclear whether the neural mechanisms underlying morphological processing in alphabetic languages would be the same in Chinese, a logographic language. To investigate the neural basis of morphological processing in Chinese compound words, an fMRI experiment was conducted using an explicit auditory morphological judgment task. Results showed the L-IFG to be a core area in Chinese morphological processing, consistent with research in alphabetic languages. Additionally, a broad network consisting of the L-MTG, the bilateral STG and the L-FG that taps phonological, orthographic, and semantic information was found to be involved. These results provide evidence that the L-IFG plays an important role in morphological processing even in languages that are typologically different.

Individual differences in the effect of orthographic/phonological conflict on rhyme and spelling decisions

In typical readers, orthographic knowledge has been shown to influence phonological decisions. In the present study, we used visual rhyme and spelling tasks to investigate the interaction of orthographic and phonological information in adults with varying reading skill. Word pairs that shared both orthography and phonology (e.g., throat/boat), differed in both orthography and phonology (e.g., snow/arm), shared only orthography (e.g., farm/warm), and shared only phonology (e.g., vote/boat) were visually presented to university students who varied in reading ability. For rhyme judgment, participants were slower and less accurate to accept rhyming pairs when words were spelled differently and to reject non-rhyming pairs when words were spelled similarly. Similarly, for spelling judgments, participants were slower and less accurate when indicating that word endings were spelled differently when words rhymed, and slower and less accurate when indicating that words were spelled similarly when words did not rhyme. Crucially, while these effects were clear at the group level, there were large individual differences in the extent to which participants were impacted by conflict. In two separate samples, reading skill was associated with the extent to which orthographic conflict impacted rhyme decisions such that individuals with better nonword reading performance were less impacted by orthographic conflict. Thus, university students with poorer reading skills may differ from their peers either in the reading strategies they use or in the degree to which they automatically access word form information. Understanding these relationships is important for understanding the roles that reading processes play in readers of different skill.

Multiple functional units in the preattentive segmentation of speech in Japanese: evidence from word illusions

We explored the functional units of speech segmentation in Japanese using dichotic presentation and a detection task requiring no intentional sublexical analysis. Indeed, illusory perception of a target word might result from preattentive migration of phonemes, morae, or syllables from one ear to the other. In Experiment I, Japanese listeners detected targets presented in hiragana and/or kanji. Phoneme migrations did occur, suggesting that orthography-independent sublexical constituents play some role in segmentation. However, syllable and especially mora migrations were more numerous. This pattern of results was not observed in French speakers (Experiment 2), suggesting that it reflects native segmentation in Japanese. To control for the intervention of kanji representations (many words are written in kanji, and one kanji often corresponds to one syllable), in Experiment 3, Japanese listeners were presented with target loanwords that can be written only in katakana. Again, phoneme migrations occurred, while the first mora and syllable led to similar rates of illusory percepts. No migration occurred for the second, "special" mora (/J/ or/N/), probably because this constitutes the latter part of a heavy syllable. Overall, these findings suggest that multiple units, such as morae, syllables, and even phonemes, function independently of orthographic knowledge in Japanese preattentive speech segmentation.

Unattentive speech processing is influenced by orthographic knowledge: evidence from mismatch negativity

How far can acquired knowledge such as orthographic knowledge affect pre-existing abilities such as speech perception? This controversial issue was addressed by investigating the automaticity of the influence of orthographic knowledge on speech processing. Many studies demonstrated this influence in active, lexico-semantic speech processing tasks. However, it has never been observed when speech is unattended. Here, the Mismatch Negativity (MMN), an automatic index of experience-dependent auditory traces, was recorded in an unattended oddball paradigm manipulating the orthographic congruency between frequent and deviant spoken riming words. Both orthographically congruent and incongruent deviant words elicited a typical MMN over the fronto-central regions, with a stronger response in the incongruent condition. The finding showed that the orthographic dimension of spoken words influences a physiological marker of speech processing although participants were required not to attend to the auditory input. This provides evidence for an impact of acquiring a written code on speech processing.

How does reading performance modulate the impact of orthographic knowledge on speech processing? A comparison of normal readers and dyslexic adults

Studies on proficient readers showed that speech processing is affected by knowledge of the orthographic code. Yet, the automaticity of the orthographic influence depends on task demand. Here, we addressed this automaticity issue in normal and dyslexic adult readers by comparing the orthographic effects obtained in two speech processing tasks that are or not sensitive to strategies developed by participants. Our finding showed that while participants' performance in a metaphonological task, which is known to be strategy prone, was affected by their orthographic knowledge regardless of the childhood diagnosis of dyslexia or of their actual reading-related skills, this latter factor significantly modulated the orthographic influence found in a more natural speech recognition task. The finding supports the claim that while any individuals who know a reading code are able to resort to their orthographic knowledge when they process speech, a more profound modification of the speech processing system by the orthographic code takes place only in readers who have reached a certain level of reading expertise.

Putting an “End” to the Motor Cortex Representations of Action Words

Language processing is an example of implicit learning of multiple statistical cues that provide probabilistic information regarding word structure and use. Much of the current debate about language embodiment is devoted to how action words are represented in the brain, with motor cortex activity evoked by these words assumed to selectively reflect conceptual content and/or its simulation. We investigated whether motor cortex activity evoked by manual action words (e.g., caress) might reflect sensitivity to probabilistic orthographic–phonological cues to grammatical category embedded within individual words. We first review neuroimaging data demonstrating that nonwords evoke activity much more reliably than action words along the entire motor strip, encompassing regions proposed to be action category specific. Using fMRI, we found that disyllabic words denoting manual actions evoked increased motor cortex activity compared with non-body-part-related words (e.g., canyon), activity which overlaps that evoked by observing and executing hand movements. This result is typically interpreted in support of language embodiment. Crucially, we also found that disyllabic nonwords containing endings with probabilistic cues predictive of verb status (e.g., -eve) evoked increased activity compared with nonwords with endings predictive of noun status (e.g., -age) in the identical motor area. Thus, motor cortex responses to action words cannot be assumed to selectively reflect conceptual content and/or its simulation. Our results clearly demonstrate motor cortex activity reflects implicit processing of ortho-phonological statistical regularities that help to distinguish a word's grammatical class.

Orthographic facilitation in Chinese spoken word recognition: an ERP study

Orthographic influences in spoken word recognition have been previously examined in alphabetic languages. However, it is unknown whether orthographic information affects spoken word recognition in Chinese, which has a clean dissociation between orthography (O) and phonology (P). The present study investigated orthographic effects using event related potentials (ERPs) and an auditory lexical decision task. We manipulated the relationship between the phonology and orthography of the first syllable in each prime-target pair using the following four conditions: P+O+, P+O-, P-O+, P-O-. Importantly, we found significantly reduced N400 amplitudes when an item was preceded by an orthographically similar prime. In addition, these reduced N400 amplitudes were positively correlated with participants' reading skill. The findings indicate that orthographic information is activated automatically during Chinese spoken word recognition, supporting the theory that there is a reciprocal connection between speech and print.

Reading acquisition reorganizes the phonological awareness network only in alphabetic writing systems

It is unknown how experience with different types of orthographies influences the neural basis of oral language processing. In order to determine the effects of alphabetic and nonalphabetic writing systems, the current study examined the influence of learning to read on oral language in English and Chinese speakers. Children (8-12 years olds) and adults made rhyming judgments to pairs of spoken words during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Developmental increases were seen only for English speakers in the left hemisphere phonological network (superior temporal gyrus (STG), inferior parietal lobule, and inferior frontal gyrus). The increase in the STG was more pronounced for words with conflicting orthography (e.g. pint-mint; jazz-has) even though access to orthography was irrelevant to the task. Moreover, higher reading skill was correlated with greater activation in the STG only for English speaking children. The effects suggest that learning to read reorganizes the phonological awareness network only for alphabetic and not logographic writing systems because of differences in the principles for mapping between orthographic and phonological representations. The reorganization of the auditory cortex may result in better phonological awareness skills in alphabetic readers.

An orthographic effect in phoneme processing, and its limitations

In three phoneme goodness rating experiments, listeners heard phonetic tokens varying along a continuum centered on /s/, occurring finally in isolated word or non-word tokens. An effect of spelling appeared in Experiment 1: native English-speakers' goodness ratings for the best /s/ tokens were significantly higher in words spelled with S (e.g., bless) than in words spelled with C (e.g., voice). Since the tokens were in fact identical in each word, this effect indicates less than optimal evaluation performance. No spelling effect appeared when non-native speakers rated the same materials in Experiment 2, indicating that the observed difference could not be due to acoustic characteristics of the S- versus C-words. In Experiment 3, native English-speakers' ratings for /s/ did not differ in non-words rhyming with words consistently spelled with S (e.g., pless) or with words consistently spelled with C (e.g., floice); i.e., no effects of lexical rhyme analogs appeared. It is concluded that the findings are better explained in terms of phonemic decisions drawing upon lexical information where convenient than by obligatory influence of lexical knowledge upon pre-lexical processing.

An orthographic effect in phoneme processing, and its limitations

In three phoneme goodness rating experiments, listeners heard phonetic tokens varying along a continuum centered on /s/, occurring finally in isolated word or non-word tokens. An effect of spelling appeared in Experiment 1: native English-speakers' goodness ratings for the best /s/ tokens were significantly higher in words spelled with S (e.g., bless) than in words spelled with C (e.g., voice). Since the tokens were in fact identical in each word, this effect indicates less than optimal evaluation performance. No spelling effect appeared when non-native speakers rated the same materials in Experiment 2, indicating that the observed difference could not be due to acoustic characteristics of the S- versus C-words. In Experiment 3, native English-speakers' ratings for /s/ did not differ in non-words rhyming with words consistently spelled with S (e.g., pless) or with words consistently spelled with C (e.g., floice); i.e., no effects of lexical rhyme analogs appeared. It is concluded that the findings are better explained in terms of phonemic decisions drawing upon lexical information where convenient than by obligatory influence of lexical knowledge upon pre-lexical processing.

An orthographic effect in phoneme processing, and its limitations

In three phoneme goodness rating experiments, listeners heard phonetic tokens varying along a continuum centered on /s/, occurring finally in isolated word or non-word tokens. An effect of spelling appeared in Experiment 1: native English-speakers' goodness ratings for the best /s/ tokens were significantly higher in words spelled with S (e.g., bless) than in words spelled with C (e.g., voice). Since the tokens were in fact identical in each word, this effect indicates less than optimal evaluation performance. No spelling effect appeared when non-native speakers rated the same materials in Experiment 2, indicating that the observed difference could not be due to acoustic characteristics of the S- versus C-words. In Experiment 3, native English-speakers' ratings for /s/ did not differ in non-words rhyming with words consistently spelled with S (e.g., pless) or with words consistently spelled with C (e.g., floice); i.e., no effects of lexical rhyme analogs appeared. It is concluded that the findings are better explained in terms of phonemic decisions drawing upon lexical information where convenient than by obligatory influence of lexical knowledge upon pre-lexical processing.

Orthographic Contamination of Broca's Area

Strong evidence has accumulated over the past years suggesting that orthography plays a role in spoken language processing. It is still unclear, however, whether the influence of orthography on spoken language results from a co-activation of posterior brain areas dedicated to low-level orthographic processing or whether it results from orthographic restructuring of phonological representations located in the anterior perisylvian speech network itself. To test these hypotheses, we ran a fMRI study that tapped orthographic processing in the visual and auditory modalities. As a marker for orthographic processing, we used the orthographic decision task in the visual modality and the orthographic consistency effect in the auditory modality. Results showed no specific orthographic activation neither for the visual nor the auditory modality in left posterior occipito-temporal brain areas that are thought to host the visual word form system. In contrast, specific orthographic activation was found both for the visual and auditory modalities at anterior sites belonging to the perisylvian region: the left dorsal-anterior insula and the left inferior frontal gyrus. These results are in favor of the restructuring hypothesis according to which learning to read acts like a "virus" that permanently contaminates the spoken language system.

Naming in noise: the contribution of orthographic knowledge to speech repetition

While the influence of orthographic knowledge on lexical and postlexical speech processing tasks has been consistently observed, it is not the case in tasks that can be performed at the prelexical level. The present study re-examined the orthographic consistency effect in such a task, namely in shadowing. Comparing the situation where the acoustic signal was clearly presented to the situation where it was embedded in noise, we observed that the orthographic effect was restricted to the latter situation and only to high-frequency words. This finding supports the lexical account of the orthographic effects in speech recognition tasks and illustrates the ability of the cognitive system to adjust itself as a function of task difficulty by resorting to the appropriate processing mechanism and information in order to maintain a good level of performance.

Naming in noise: the contribution of orthographic knowledge to speech repetition

While the influence of orthographic knowledge on lexical and postlexical speech processing tasks has been consistently observed, it is not the case in tasks that can be performed at the prelexical level. The present study re-examined the orthographic consistency effect in such a task, namely in shadowing. Comparing the situation where the acoustic signal was clearly presented to the situation where it was embedded in noise, we observed that the orthographic effect was restricted to the latter situation and only to high-frequency words. This finding supports the lexical account of the orthographic effects in speech recognition tasks and illustrates the ability of the cognitive system to adjust itself as a function of task difficulty by resorting to the appropriate processing mechanism and information in order to maintain a good level of performance.

Literacy Affects Spoken Language in a Non-Linguistic Task: An ERP Study

It is now commonly accepted that orthographic information influences spoken word recognition in a variety of laboratory tasks (lexical decision, semantic categorization, gender decision). However, it remains a hotly debated issue whether or not orthography would influence normal word perception in passive listening. That is, the argument has been made that orthography might only be activated in laboratory tasks that require lexical or semantic access in some form or another. It is possible that these rather "unnatural" tasks invite participants to use orthographic information in a strategic way to improve task performance. To put the strategy account to rest, we conducted an event-related brain potential (ERP) study, in which participants were asked to detect a 500-ms-long noise burst that appeared on 25% of the trials (Go trials). In the NoGo trials, we presented spoken words that were orthographically consistent or inconsistent. Thus, lexical and/or semantic processing was not required in this task and there was no strategic benefit in computing orthography to perform this task. Nevertheless, despite the non-linguistic nature of the task, we replicated the consistency effect that has been previously reported in lexical decision and semantic tasks (i.e., inconsistent words produce more negative ERPs than consistent words as early as 300 ms after the onset of the spoken word). These results clearly suggest that orthography automatically influences word perception in normal listening even if there is no strategic benefit to do so. The results are explained in terms of orthographic restructuring of phonological representations.

Orthographic consistency and word-frequency effects in auditory word recognition: new evidence from lexical decision and rime detection

Many studies have repeatedly shown an orthographic consistency effect in the auditory lexical decision task. Words with phonological rimes that could be spelled in multiple ways (i.e., inconsistent words) typically produce longer auditory lexical decision latencies and more errors than do words with rimes that could be spelled in only one way (i.e., consistent words). These results have been extended to different languages and tasks, suggesting that the effect is quite general and robust. Despite this growing body of evidence, some psycholinguists believe that orthographic effects on spoken language are exclusively strategic, post-lexical, or restricted to peculiar (low-frequency) words. In the present study, we manipulated consistency and word-frequency orthogonally in order to explore whether the orthographic consistency effect extends to high-frequency words. Two different tasks were used: lexical decision and rime detection. Both tasks produced reliable consistency effects for both low- and high-frequency words. Furthermore, in Experiment 1 (lexical decision), an interaction revealed a stronger consistency effect for low-frequency words than for high-frequency words, as initially predicted by Ziegler and Ferrand (1998), whereas no interaction was found in Experiment 2 (rime detection). Our results extend previous findings by showing that the orthographic consistency effect is obtained not only for low-frequency words but also for high-frequency words. Furthermore, these effects were also obtained in a rime detection task, which does not require the explicit processing of orthographic structure. Globally, our results suggest that literacy changes the way people process spoken words, even for frequent words.

Literacy Affects Spoken Language in a Non-Linguistic Task: An ERP Study

It is now commonly accepted that orthographic information influences spoken word recognition in a variety of laboratory tasks (lexical decision, semantic categorization, gender decision). However, it remains a hotly debated issue whether or not orthography would influence normal word perception in passive listening. That is, the argument has been made that orthography might only be activated in laboratory tasks that require lexical or semantic access in some form or another. It is possible that these rather "unnatural" tasks invite participants to use orthographic information in a strategic way to improve task performance. To put the strategy account to rest, we conducted an event-related brain potential (ERP) study, in which participants were asked to detect a 500-ms-long noise burst that appeared on 25% of the trials (Go trials). In the NoGo trials, we presented spoken words that were orthographically consistent or inconsistent. Thus, lexical and/or semantic processing was not required in this task and there was no strategic benefit in computing orthography to perform this task. Nevertheless, despite the non-linguistic nature of the task, we replicated the consistency effect that has been previously reported in lexical decision and semantic tasks (i.e., inconsistent words produce more negative ERPs than consistent words as early as 300 ms after the onset of the spoken word). These results clearly suggest that orthography automatically influences word perception in normal listening even if there is no strategic benefit to do so. The results are explained in terms of orthographic restructuring of phonological representations.

Orthographic influences when processing spoken pseudowords: theoretical implications

When we hear an utterance, is the orthographic representation of that utterance activated when it is being processed? Orthographic influences have been previously examined in relation to spoken pseudoword processing in three different paradigms. Unlike real word processing, no orthographic effects with pseudowords have been observed in a phoneme goodness ratings task, and there is a mixed outcome in studies looking for spelling–sound consistency effects. In contrast, the orthography of spoken pseudohomographs has been shown to be activated, given that they prime their homographic base word. Explanations are sought for the findings in these three paradigms, leading to an exploration of theoretical models of spoken word recognition.

Naming in noise: the contribution of orthographic knowledge to speech repetition

While the influence of orthographic knowledge on lexical and postlexical speech processing tasks has been consistently observed, it is not the case in tasks that can be performed at the prelexical level. The present study re-examined the orthographic consistency effect in such a task, namely in shadowing. Comparing the situation where the acoustic signal was clearly presented to the situation where it was embedded in noise, we observed that the orthographic effect was restricted to the latter situation and only to high-frequency words. This finding supports the lexical account of the orthographic effects in speech recognition tasks and illustrates the ability of the cognitive system to adjust itself as a function of task difficulty by resorting to the appropriate processing mechanism and information in order to maintain a good level of performance.

Literacy Affects Spoken Language in a Non-Linguistic Task: An ERP Study

It is now commonly accepted that orthographic information influences spoken word recognition in a variety of laboratory tasks (lexical decision, semantic categorization, gender decision). However, it remains a hotly debated issue whether or not orthography would influence normal word perception in passive listening. That is, the argument has been made that orthography might only be activated in laboratory tasks that require lexical or semantic access in some form or another. It is possible that these rather "unnatural" tasks invite participants to use orthographic information in a strategic way to improve task performance. To put the strategy account to rest, we conducted an event-related brain potential (ERP) study, in which participants were asked to detect a 500-ms-long noise burst that appeared on 25% of the trials (Go trials). In the NoGo trials, we presented spoken words that were orthographically consistent or inconsistent. Thus, lexical and/or semantic processing was not required in this task and there was no strategic benefit in computing orthography to perform this task. Nevertheless, despite the non-linguistic nature of the task, we replicated the consistency effect that has been previously reported in lexical decision and semantic tasks (i.e., inconsistent words produce more negative ERPs than consistent words as early as 300 ms after the onset of the spoken word). These results clearly suggest that orthography automatically influences word perception in normal listening even if there is no strategic benefit to do so. The results are explained in terms of orthographic restructuring of phonological representations.

Children with reading difficulties show differences in brain regions associated with orthographic processing during spoken language processing

We explored the neural basis of spoken language deficits in children with reading difficulty, specifically focusing on the role of orthography during spoken language processing. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine differences in brain activation between children with reading difficulties (aged 9-to-15 years) and age-matched children with typical achievement during an auditory rhyming task. Both groups showed activation in bilateral superior temporal gyri (BA 42 and 22), a region associated with phonological processing, with no significant between-group differences. Interestingly, typically achieving children, but not children with reading difficulties, showed activation of left fusiform cortex (BA 37), a region implicated in orthographic processing. Furthermore, this activation was significantly greater for typically achieving children compared to those with reading difficulties. These findings suggest that typical children automatically activate orthographic representations during spoken language processing, while those with reading difficulties do not. Follow-up analyses revealed that the intensity of the activation in the fusiform gyrus was associated with significantly stronger behavioral conflict effects in typically achieving children only (i.e., longer latencies to rhyming pairs with orthographically dissimilar endings than to those with identical orthographic endings; jazz-has vs. cat-hat). Finally, for reading disabled children, a positive correlation between left fusiform activation and nonword reading was observed, such that greater access to orthography was related to decoding ability. Taken together, the results suggest that the integration of orthographic and phonological processing is directly related to reading ability.

How does learning to read affect speech perception?

Behavioral studies have demonstrated that learning to read and write affects the processing of spoken language. The present study investigates the neural mechanism underlying the emergence of such orthographic effects during speech processing. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to tease apart two competing hypotheses that consider this orthographic influence to be either a consequence of a change in the nature of the phonological representations during literacy acquisition or a consequence of online coactivation of the orthographic and phonological representations during speech processing. Participants performed an auditory lexical decision task in which the orthographic consistency of spoken words was manipulated and repetitive TMS was used to interfere with either phonological or orthographic processing by stimulating left supramarginal gyrus (SMG) or left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOTC), respectively. The advantage for consistently spelled words was removed only when the stimulation was delivered to SMG and not to vOTC, providing strong evidence that this effect arises at a phonological, rather than an orthographic, level. We propose a possible mechanistic explanation for the role of SMG in phonological processing and how this is affected by learning to read.

Strategic deployment of orthographic knowledge in phoneme detection

The phoneme detection task is widely used in spoken-word recognition research. Alphabetically literate participants, however, are more used to explicit representations of letters than of phonemes. The present study explored whether phoneme detection is sensitive to how target phonemes are, or may be, orthographically realized. Listeners detected the target sounds [b, m, t, f, s, k] in word-initial position in sequences of isolated English words. Response times were faster to the targets [b, m, t], which have consistent word-initial spelling, than to the targets [f, s, k], which are inconsistently spelled, but only when spelling was rendered salient by the presence in the experiment of many irregularly spelled filler words. Within the inconsistent targets [f, s, k], there was no significant difference between responses to targets in words with more usual (foam, seed, cattle) versus less usual (phone, cede, kettle) spellings. Phoneme detection is thus not necessarily sensitive to orthographic effects; knowledge of spelling stored in the lexical representations of words does not automatically become available as word candidates are activated. However, salient orthographic manipulations in experimental input can induce such sensitivity. We attribute this to listeners' experience of the value of spelling in everyday situations that encourage phonemic decisions (such as learning new names).

Auditory word serial recall benefits from orthographic dissimilarity

The influence of orthographic knowledge has been consistently observed in dissimilarity speech recognition and metaphonological tasks. The present study provides data suggesting that such influence also pervades other cognitive domains phonological related to language abilities, such as verbal working memory. Using serial similarity effect recall of auditory seven-word lists, we observed that inter-item orthographic dissimilarity assists verbal working memory by reducing or even avoiding verbal serial recall the detrimental effect of phonological similarity. However, this orthographic modulation of the phonological similarity effect only occurred at positions four to six of the word list. Performance at position seven benefited from a recency effect that may be assumed to result from a more surface-level (acoustic-phonetic) representation, while better performance at positions one to three is attributable to primacy effects, and can be accounted for in terms of consolidation through recapitulation. The beneficial influence of orthographic knowledge may, therefore, only be apparent when the item stored in short-term memory takes the form of an abstract but unconsolidated phonological representation.