Abstract Understanding how verbs are processed during lexical access remains an open theoretical question, as most large-scale evidence has focused on nouns. This megastudy analyzes variables involved in the processing of Spanish verbs through response times obtained in a lexical decision task. The dataset, named SpaVerb-LD (Spanish Verb Lexical Decision), continues the SpaVerb-WN (Spanish Verb Word Naming), allowing direct comparison across tasks. The linear mixed-effects model revealed consistent facilitatory effects of word frequency and neighborhood size and inhibitory effects of word length and age of acquisition (AoA). For the first time in Spanish, we observed a facilitatory effect of word prevalence and an inhibitory effect of verb motor content. Previously reported two-way interactions were also replicated, including those between word prevalence and frequency, prevalence and neighborhood size, and AoA and length. A paradoxical interaction between AoA and word frequency was also identified. Crucially, these interactions indicate that lexical decision performance is shaped by the interplay between lexical and semantic variables, highlighting the role of semantic richness in verb processing. The findings support the view that semantic access is involved in lexical decision even in transparent languages and demonstrate that word prevalence and motor content are key to understanding lexical-semantic verb processing beyond traditional frequency-based accounts.
Abstract This study investigates how statistical orthographic knowledge—how frequently a phonological unit is written in a language—influences phonological awareness tasks. In Experiment 1, 144 children with varying reading levels and 61 undergraduate French-speaking students completed a syllable-counting task for consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) and consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant (CCVC) acoustic monosyllabic pseudowords. The number of syllables of the pseudowords was ambiguous (one or two) since some of their ending rhymes could be frequently spelled with an “e” (e.g., [-uʃ]), whereas others are frequently spelled without an “e” (e.g., [-is]). The results showed that (1) pseudowords tended to be more frequently counted as one-syllable sequences when they had a high probability of not be spelled with an “e” rather than when they had a low probability of not be spelled with an “e, ” and that (2) this effect was more pronounced in literate adults as compared to children with lower reading levels. Experiment 2, involving prereaders, confirmed that children without formal literacy instruction showed little influence of orthographic information on syllable counts. These findings suggest that phonological responses are shaped by statistical relationships between phonological and orthographic representations, which emerge gradually through learning to read.
Abstract The present paper provides an overview of articulatory complexity and articulatory difficulty in speech production, with a focus on their relevance to acquisition, sound change, and disordered speech. These constructs are important because structures described as articulatorily complex often show distinct production patterns: they may be acquired later, produced less accurately by speakers with speech disorders, or be more susceptible to diachronic change. However, understanding when articulatory complexity has an explanatory role in speech production requires not only assessing degrees of complexity but also determining when complex movements result in articulatory consequences. Researchers have operationalized articulatory complexity in several ways, but existing metrics do not always yield the same predictions. This paper reviews major approaches to establishing articulatory complexity and evaluates commonly used complexity scales. Particular attention is given to the limitations of these scales, especially when they are interpreted as measures of articulatory difficulty. The review concludes by examining experimental methods for assessing articulatory difficulty more directly. I argue that such methods provide a more reliable basis for establishing the relationship between complexity, difficulty, and observed production patterns.
Abstract Watching subtitled video requires attention distribution between moving images, speech, and written text, yet little is known about the earliest stages of subtitle processing. This study examines how viewer (L1 vs L2) and subtitle length influence subtitle skipping, two latency measures (time to first fixation and processing latency, the latter indexing the initiation of reading after initial corrective saccades), and early saccadic eye movements at subtitle onset (refixations, regressions, standard and corrective forward saccades, and vertical corrective saccades). In an eye-tracking experiment, ninety-five hearing participants (37 L1-English and 58 L2-English) watched English-language clips with same-language subtitles. Subtitles shorter than 15 characters were more likely to be skipped in both language groups, raising concerns about their readability. Both latency measures increased with subtitle length. Additionally, L2 viewers moved their gaze to longer subtitles more slowly than L1 viewers. L2 viewers also produced fewer corrective forward saccades and more refixations than L1 viewers. Finally, longer subtitles reduced the likelihood of refixations and vertical corrective saccades in both groups. These findings demonstrate that the earliest stages of subtitle processing are constrained by both subtitle length and viewer language, with implications for subtitling guidelines, accessibility, and language-learning applications.
Abstract The Competition Model proposes that sentence interpretation relies on cues such as word order and verb agreement, weighted by their validity, cost, and strength. Heritage bilinguals offer an especially informative lens for this framework because they access multiple cue systems and vary widely in language experience, proficiency, and societal exposure. This study examined how these factors shape sentence interpretation in 49 English monolinguals and 52 Spanish–English heritage bilinguals using a sentence-interpretation task in English and Spanish. Results showed that bilinguals adapted cue strategies across languages, relying more on verb agreement in Spanish and word order in English, consistent with patterns of amalgamation and transfer. Processing costs increased under cue conflict, reflected in longer response times, particularly when bilinguals engaged morphosyntactic cues in noncanonical structures. Objective proficiency demonstrated language-specific effects in English: English vocabulary and bilingual listening comprehension predicted greater reliance on word order in English. Whereas objective Spanish vocabulary and self-reported Spanish proficiency predicted stronger agreement-cue use in Spanish. Bilinguals exhibited diverse cue-dominance profiles, highlighting substantial within-group variability and extending the Competition Model through composite measures of cue strength.
