Semantic radical

Linguistic characteristics affect
literacy acquisition and verbal shortterm memory of Chinese characters
Denise Wu 吳嫻
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
NATIONAL CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
TAIWAN
A Model of STM
VERBAL
NONVERBAL
phonology
semantics
orthography
graphomotoric
Baddeley (2000)
Findings of Alphabetic Languages
 phonological similarity effect (Conrad, 1964)
wart taut caught
< rough dough cough = full pea sigh
- word length effect (Conrad, 1968)
- articulatory suppression (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)
 Contribution from word forms to verbal STM
fry cry dry
< guy sigh pie
Kk Cc Zz
Dd Hh Rr
<
(Logie et al., 2000)
Dissociable Verbal and
Non-verbal STM
Visuo-spatial STM
Verbal STM
 Right-lateralized or bilateral
(Awh et al., 1996; Smith et al.,
1995; Smith et al., 1998)
 left-lateralized
(Fiez et al., 1996;
Smith et al., 1995)
SMA/Premotor
DLPFC
BA 9,46
BA 44,45
BA 40
SPL
BA40
Premotor
Inferotemporal cortex
SPL
 But there are many homophones in Chinese
 The majority (~80%) of Chinese characters are
semantic-phonetic compounds (phonograms)
 Chinese readers are sensitive to the sub-lexical
phonological information
媽
Infinite
meanings
female
/nv3/
216 semantic radicals
mother
/ma1/
420 syllables
(1000-1100 types)
a horse
/ma3/
300-800 phonetic radicals
Orthographic Similarity Effect
Phonologically dissimilar (PD)
OD
OS
Phonologically similar (PS)
秋
鈣
預
瓶
詞
磁
chiou1
gai4
yu4
ping2
tszi2
隊
般
貼
弱
duei4
ban1
tie1
洛
格
luo4
韌
任
tszi2
ren4
ren4
租
豬
殿
建
ruo4
tzu1
tzhu1
dian4
jian4
海
梅
惟
維
惘
網
ge2
hai3
mei2
wei2
wei2
wang3
wang3
愧
槐
泊
怕
校
絞
枕
忱
kuei4
huai2
bo2
pa4
shiau4
jiau3
jen3
chen2
Probed serial recognition paradigm
秋鈣
鈣秋
+
弱
貼
般
隊
瓶
預
鈣
秋
+
200ms
800ms
200ms (blank interval)
800ms (per stimulus)
700ms
≧8500
ms
1.0
Mean accuracy
0.8
P <.001
P <.05
Orthographically
Dissimilar
0.75
Orthographically
Similar
0.87
0.81
0.69
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
秋
鈣
洛
格
Phonologically
Dissimilar
詞
磁
惟
維
Phonologically
Similar
N=16
OSE in Vertical Characters?
OD
Phonologically dissimilar
Phonologically similar
筒尊暈冀
勢誓鶯膺
tong3
shi4
yun1
ji4
察興辜紫
cha2
OS
zun1
xing1
gu1
zi3
shi4
ying1
ying1
愚輿瓷慈
yu2
yu2
ci2
ci2
墊摯萬寓
努怒籃藍
dian4
nu3
zhi4
wan4
yu4
nu4
lan2
lan2
疊壘豎登
翠萃幕慕
die2
cui4
lei3
shu4
deng1
cui4
mu4
mu4
Probed serial recall paradigm
p = .019
n. s.
(p = .76)
1.00
Mean accuracy
0.80
0.89
Orthographically
Similar
0.84
0.60
Orthographically
Dissimilar
0.60
0.63
0.40
0.20
0.00
冀
尊
寓
萬
瓷
慈
努
怒
N=16
Visual Similarity Effect?
Horizontal
VD
Vertical
陌
缸
浩
埔
營
岳
翠
宵
mo4
gang1
hau4
pu3
ying2
yue4
tsuei4
shiau1
舒
絃
訝
稅
富
晃
亮
姿
shu1
shian2
ya4
shuei4
fu4
huang4
liang4
tzi1
Rating score: 1.75
VS
Rating score: 2.13
伴
徉
凋
洞
笑
芙
查
香
ban4
yang2
diau1
dung4
shiau4
fu2
cha2
shiang1
暢
惕
項
填
賈
置
育
盲
chang4
ti4
shiang4
tian2
jia3
jri4
yu4
mang2
Rating score: 3.38
Rating score: 3.25
5-points rating (1: most dissimilar, 5: most similar)
Probed serial recall paradigm
n. s.
n. s.
1.00
Mean accuracy
0.80
0.92
0.91
埔
浩
伴
徉
0.94
0.92
Visually
Dissimilar
Visually
Similar
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
Horizontal
Structure
營
翠
置
賈
Vertical
Structure
N=16
RSPD
RSPS
秋鈣預瓶隊般貼弱
chiou1
gai4
yu4
ping2
duei4
ban1
tie1
ruo4
妝娃酒配除斜綠剝
juang1
wa2
jiou3
pei4
chu2
shie2
liu4
bo1
洛格海梅愧槐泊怕
Luo4
ge2
hai3
mei2
kuei4
huai2
1.0
Mean accuracy
RDPD
0.8
0.81
0.85
0.6
0.68
0.4
bo2
pa4
1.96 2.08
2.12 2.30
3.35 3.82
Chinese Foreigners
readers
Ratings of
Visual Similarity
(1-5)
0.2
0.0
秋鈣
妝娃
洛格
N=16
OSE from Semantic Radicals?
Semantic Transparency
Different
Same
Semantic radical
Opaque
Transparent
鍋
詞
/guo1/
/tsu2/
Quiet
(blue)
Pot
(metal)
Words
(speech)
猜
狹
悅
憐
/cai1/
/xia2/
/yue4/
/lian2/
Guess
(dog)
Narrow
(dog)
Happy
(heart)
Pity
(heart)
貼
靜
/tie1/
/jing1/
Stick
(shellfish)
OSE from Semantic Radicals?
Semantic Transparency
Different
Same
Semantic radical
Opaque
離
/li2/
Leave
(bird)
敏
/min3/
Quick
(beat)
Transparent
副
觀
雞
/fu4/
/guan1/
/ji1/
Secondary
(knife)
Watch
(see)
Chicken
(bird)
戰
戳
/zhan4/
/chuo1/
War
(weapon)
Poke
(weapon)
故
/gu2/
Old
(beat)
Probed serial recall paradigm
1.0
Mean Accuracy
0.8
LEFT semantic radical RIGHT semantic radical
0.91 0.91
0.90 0.91
0.92 0.93
0.95
0.90
Semantic
transparency
 Opaque
 Transparent
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
貼
靜
腫
軌
Different
猜
狹
悅
憐
離
艱
觀
雞
Same
Different
Semantic radical
敏
故
割
刮
Same
 STM of Chinese characters is worse when sharing
- phonology
- phonetic (but not semantic) radicals in the
same position within a character, especially
in horizontal characters
媽
female
/nv3/
mother
/ma1/
a horse
/ma3/
heart
/hsin1/
怒
angry
/nu4/
a slave
/nu2/
 Temporal dynamics of phonetic and semantic
radicals (an MEG study)
Tasks
homophone
synonym
Yes
僑-橋 vs. 扶-浮
孩-孺 vs. 唸-讀
NO
埋-理 vs. 燦-繪
注-湯 vs. 均-瀑
+
僑
500 ms
250 ms
橋
40 ms
time
Hung et al. (2013)
 MegnetoEncephaloGrphy
Same semantic radical
Behavioral results
Same phonetic radical
Diff phonetic radical
non-homophone
Diff semantic radical
M170 (130 – 230 ms)
12
10
8
6
4
Same phonetic radical / hom
Diff. phonetic radical / hom
Same phonetic radical / non-hom
Diff. phonetic radical / non-hom
2
0
-260 -150 -40 70 180
0
110 220 330 440 550 660 770 880 990
*
M250 (230 – 300 ms)
12
10
PsOs
PsOd
PdOs
PdOd
8
6
4
Same phonetic radical / hom
Diff. phonetic radical / hom
Same phonetic radical / non-hom
Diff. phonetic radical / non-hom
2
0
-260 -150 -40 70 180
0
110 220 330 440 550 660 770 880 990
*
M350 (300 – 400 ms)
12
10
OsPs
OsPd
OdPs
OdPd
8
6
4
Same phonetic radical / hom
Diff. phonetic radical / hom
Same phonetic radical / non-hom
Diff. phonetic radical / non-hom
2
0
-260 -150 -40 70 180
0
110 220 330 440 550 660 770 880 990
M170 (130 – 230 ms)
12
10
8
6
4
Same semantic radical / syn
Diff. semantic radical / syn
Same semantic radical / non-syn
Diff. semantic radical / non-syn
2
0
-260 -150 -40 70 180
0
110 220 330 440 550 660 770 880 990
M250 (230 – 300 ms)
marginal
12
Os
10
Od
8
6
4
Same semantic radical / syn
Diff. semantic radical / syn
Same semantic radical / non-syn
Diff. semantic radical / non-syn
2
0
-260 -150 -40 70 180
0
110 220 330 440 550 660 770 880 990
M350 (300 – 400 ms)
12
Syn
10
Non-Syn
8
6
4
Same semantic radical / syn
Diff. semantic radical / syn
Same semantic radical / non-syn
Diff. semantic radical / non-syn
2
0
-260 -150 -40 70 180
0
110 220 330 440 550 660 770 880 990
Phonetic radicals play a dominant role in
early lexical access and phonological
computation
The graphic form of semantic radicals
provides further constraints on lexical
access before the activation of character
meaning
Orthographic Similarity Effect
in the Brain Probe (4s)
Retention (6s)
PDOS vs. PDOD
梅
1
Stimuli (2s)
海
Fixation
(4s or 6s)
洛
梅
Verbal
STM
1
格
+
Spatial
STM
+
N= 20 (10 males)
Probed serial recognition
Behavioral data
N=20
p <.001
p <.001
p =.002
2000
1800
0.97
0.93
0.80
0.83
0.60
0.40
0.20
Mean response time (ms)
1.00
Mean accuracy
p =.001
1600
1590
1400
1200
1379
1446
1000
800
600
400
200
0.00
0
Verbal-OD Verbal-OS
(秋鈣)
(洛格)
Spatial
Verbal-OD Verbal-OS
(秋鈣)
(洛格)
Spatial
Networks of Spatial
& Verbal STM
SFG (BA6)
MFG (BA9)
BA10
IFG
SPL & IPL
(BA7 & 40)
SP {+}
MFG
(BA9)
IPL (40)
Angular
gyrus(BA39)
IFG
(BA44)
Fusiform
gyrus (BA37)
BA17-19
VERB {+}
Uncorrected p=.001, Spatial extent p<FDR.05
Regions of Interest
BA6
MFG
(BA6/9)
MFG
(BA10)
IPL (BA40)
SPL (BA7)
SP-VERB {+}
Postcentral
gyrus
Fusiform
gyrus
(BA37)
MFG
(BA46)
IFG (BA45)
BA17 - 19
VERB-SP {+}
p=.01
Orthographic Similarity Effect
in ROI
BA 6
MFG/IFG (BA9)
MFG
(BA6)
IPL (BA40)
SPL (BA7)
SP-VERB {+}
VERB-SP {+}
Uncorrected p=.001, spatial extent p<FDR.05
Revisit the STM Model
P
O
S
G
phonology
semantics
graphomoto
orthography
How about learning Chinese as L2?
North America
(6): English
Europe (26): French,
German, Dutch, Spanish,
Hungarian, Estonia, Czech
Eastern Europe
(5): Russian
Central America (16):
Spanish
South America (4):
Spanish
Africa (1): English
Asia (58): Korean,
Indonesian,
Vietnamese
Age: 20~37y (M = 26)
NCCU(43)
CYCU (15)
NCU(45)
College
NTNU(6)
NTU(5)
N = 116
Master
Ph.D
14
30
Others (2)
72
50
30
20
6
12
18
24
30
36
42
48
54
60
66
72
78
84
90
96
102
108
114
120
126
132
138
144
150
156
162
Frequency (persons)
6
12
18
24
30
36
42
48
54
60
66
72
78
84
90
96
102
108
114
120
126
132
138
144
150
156
162
Frequency (persons)
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Time for learning Chinese (months)
M = 19
SD = 24
60
Time for staying in Taiwan (months)
40
M = 15
SD = 18
10
0
Time spent on learning Chinese
100
90
80
Frequency (persons)
70
60
Listening
50
Speaking
40
Reading
30
Writing
20
10
0
<3
3~6
Hours/day
>6
Demographic Info
Age
Education level
Linguistic background
Time for learning Chinese
Chinese Literacy
Character size
Character decoding
Lexical decision
Rapid automatized naming
Statistical Learning
Visual SL
Auditory SL
General Cognitive
Abilities
Raven’s APM/block design
Digit span
Corsi block
Visual pattern (VPT)
Perceptual Abilities
Two-tone discrimination
Visual perceptual skills
(TVPS)
Chinese literacy: Character size
Difficulty level:
Low
院試
Medium 婆夠
High
恭雍
70
M = 595
SD = 707
N = 116
60
Frequency (persons)
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 <500 500 500 10001000150015002000200025002500300030003500 35004000 4000
Grade
1
2
3
4
700
1200
2100
2600
1588: Cover 95% of the text
5 6
78
9
3100 3300 3500 3700
N = 116
Character
size
Decoding
(with
context)
Decoding
(no
context)
LDT_
ACC
RAN_
num
CH Learning
Time
.63
.55
.59
.59
-.33
-.43
-.43
Raven’s
score
-.02
.00
-.05
-.11
-.07
-.27
-.03
Block design
-.06
-.01
-.07
-.05
-.06
-.28
-.06
Digit span
-.10
-.12
-.18
-.19
.11
.03
.18
VPT
.09
.23
.22
.26
-.24
-.09
.12
Corsi
.05
-.12
-.03
.00
.04
-.10
.08
VSL
.37
.21
.17
.18
-.14
-.15
-.17
ASL
.02
-.01
.01
.10
.10
-.04
-.04
DIS
.09
.16
.12
.11
.09
-.06
-.02
SPA
.04
.17
.16
.09
-.05
-.29
-.19
CLO
-.11
-.05
.02
-.02
.01
.08
.11
RAN_ RAN_
col
pic
Statistical learning (SL)
 Auditory SL
 Visual SL
Familiarization
Familiarization
Test
Test
Statistical learning (SL) vs. Character size
r = .37
N = 116
Statistical learning (SL)
Character decoding
(with context)
r = .21
N = 116
Statistical learning (SL) vs. LDT_ACC
r = .18
N = 115
Regression analysis
N = 59
Character
size
Decoding
(with
context)
CH
Learning
Time
.59
.44
.53
.46
-.30
-.35
-.27
Raven’s
score
-.13
.03
-.08
-.09
-.06
-.17
-.12
Digit
span
.07
-.03
-.07
-.10
.11
.18
.37
VPT
.06
.30
.21
.27
-.26
-.16
.08
Corsi
.03
-.21
-.09
-.08
.12
.10
.18
VSL
.26
.20
.11
.15
-.11
-.14
-.15
Decoding
LDT_
(no context) ACC
RAN_ RAN_ RAN_
num
col
pic
(N=57) (N=28) (N=23)
Chinese speakers retain Chinese
(sensitivity to word form is
left lateralized)
媽
alphabetic readers
acquire Chinese?
English speakers retain English
(sensitivity to word form is
right lateralized)
mother
Acknowledgment
 Laboratories for Cognitive Neuroscience
Dr. Ovid Tzeng
Dr. Daisy Hung
Yihui Hung
Esther Lin
Sinead Chen
Hsiang-Yu Chen
Monica Li
Esther Shih
Una Hsuan

Download Report