Abstract
Lexical processing is influenced by a word's semantic diversity, as estimated by corpus-derived metrics. Although this suggests that contextual variation shapes verbal learning and memory, it is not clear what semantic diversity represents and why this influences lexical processing. Word learning experiments and simulations offer an opportunity to manipulate contextual variation directly and measure the effects on processing. In Experiment 1, adults read novel words in six naturalistic passages spanning one familiar topic (low semantic diversity) or six familiar topics (high semantic diversity). Words experienced in the low-diversity condition showed better learning, an effect replicated by simulating spreading activation in lexical networks differing in semantic diversity. We attributed these findings to “anchoring”, a process of stabilizing novel word representations by securing them onto a familiar topic in long-term memory. Simulation 2 and Experiment 2 tested whether word learning might be better placed to take advantage of diversity if novel words were given an anchoring opportunity. Simulations and behavioural data both showed that after an anchoring opportunity, novel word forms were better learned in the high-diversity condition, contrasting with Simulation/Experiment 1. Taken together, these findings show that anchoring and contextual variation both influence the early stages of word learning.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 104203 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Journal of Memory and Language |
Volume | 118 |
Early online date | 28 Jan 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Data in this article were presented at the 2020 EPS January meeting in London, UK, and at the 2019 LKALE SIG conference in Oxford, UK. This research was supported by the R C Lee Centenary Scholarship to Matthew Mak and an Economic and Social Research Council grant (ES/M009998/1) to Kate Nation. Yaling Hsiao is supported by a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship (PF2/180013). We thank the three reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords
- Anchoring
- Contextual variation
- Network simulation
- Semantic diversity
- Word learning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Language and Linguistics
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics and Language
- Artificial Intelligence