Lecture_9_Reading_2024__Auto-saved_

Lecture Overview

This lecture discusses various aspects of reading, emphasizing that reading is a complex skill involving the processing of spelling, sounds, and meanings of words, along with higher-level comprehension. The methods used to study reading, the role of phonological processes, word recognition, and eye movements will be explored, with reference to cognitive psychology literature.

Key Principles and Learning Outcomes

• Principle of Reading: Reading is a skill that integrates multiple cognitive processes, both basic (like sound and spelling recognition) and advanced (like comprehension).

• Learning Outcomes for the Lecture:

  • Describe methodologies for studying reading.

  • Discuss the extent of phonological processing.

  • Explain how word recognition occurs.

  • Evaluate different models of reading.

  • Explain the importance of eye movements in reading.

Reading Development

• Children Learning to Read:

  • Reading is an evolutionary recent development that shares similarities and differences with speech perception.

  • There are significant consequences associated with a lack of reading skills, such as social disadvantage.

Cognitive Processes Involved in Reading

Reading involves various cognitive processes, including:

• Orthography (the conventional spelling system of a language).

• Phonology (how words sound).

• Semantics (meanings of words).

• Syntax and Grammar (rules that govern sentence structure).

• High-Level Discourse Integration (connecting ideas beyond individual sentences).

Research Methods for Studying Reading

• Lexical Decision Task: A method to measure the time needed to recognize words.

• Naming Tasks: Participants pronounce visually presented words as quickly as possible.

• Priming: This method involves presenting related stimuli to influence processing speed and accuracy.

• Event-Related Potentials (ERP): Specifically, the N400 component for assessing word meaning.

Attention-Related Processes

• Eye movements provide detailed records of attention-related processes during reading, giving insights into how we engage with text.

Phonological Processes: The Debate

• The lecture contrasts two models of phonological processing in reading:

  • Weak Phonological Model: Suggests phonological processing is slow and not crucial for word identification.

  • Strong Phonological Model: Argues that phonological coding is automatic and rapid, taking place soon after visual presentation.

Evidence Supporting Phonological Processing

• Masked Phonological Priming: Demonstrates quicker word processing when preceded by phonologically similar primes.

• Eye Movement Studies: Experiments showed variations in reading behavior based on phonological similarity of words.

• Neuropsychological Evidence: Patients with impaired phonological processing who can still access word meanings.

Word Recognition Mechanisms

• Discusses how reading can be seen as an automatic process, referencing the Stroop effect.

• The Interactive Activation Model: Proposes word identification depends on orthographic neighbors.

• Context Effects: Semantic priming influences how words are recognized.

Reading Aloud Approaches

• Comparison between the Dual-Route Cascaded Model and the Distributed Connectionist Approach:

  • Dual-Route Model: Uses both non-lexical and lexical strategies for reading, explaining surface and phonological dyslexia.

  • Distributed Connectionist Model: Emphasizes the role of semantic knowledge when reading.

Processing Models Summary

• Saccades and Fixations: Explains how eye movements (saccades) and pause periods (fixations) work in reading.

• Reichle’s E-Z Reader Model: Details how frequency checking for common words accelerates processing.

Conclusion

The lecture wraps up by summarizing that multiple methods exist for studying reading processes, particularly focusing on the importance of both bottom-up (automatic) and top-down (cognitive) processes involved in reading. The impact of cognitive models on understanding reading aloud and eye movement patterns is emphasized, along with the ongoing debate regarding phonological processing.