ERIC Number: EJ979254
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0749-596X
EISSN: N/A
The Development of Long-Term Lexical Representations through Hebb Repetition Learning
Szmalec, Arnaud; Page, Mike P. A.; Duyck, Wouter
Journal of Memory and Language, v67 n3 p342-354 Oct 2012
This study clarifies the involvement of short- and long-term memory in novel word-form learning, using the Hebb repetition paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants recalled sequences of visually presented syllables (e.g., "la"-"va"-"bu"-"sa"-"fa"-"ra"-"re"-"si"-"di"), with one particular (Hebb) sequence repeated on every third trial. Crucially, these Hebb sequences contained three orthographic nonword neighbors of existing Dutch base-words (e.g., "lavabu" - "lavabo" ["kitchen sink"]). Twenty-four hours later, the same participants performed two auditory lexicalization tests involving the actual Dutch base-words (e.g., "lavabo", "safari", "residu"). Both tests yielded slower reaction times for these Dutch base-words compared with matched control words, which reflects lexical competition between the base-words and the Hebb sequences, therefore demonstrating lexical engagement of the Hebb sequences. In Experiment 2, we subsequently used the Hebb paradigm as an analogue of word-form learning, in order to investigate whether the creation of novel lexical memories requires sleep. Whereas earlier findings indicate that overnight sleep plays a crucial role in lexical consolidation, the current results show that Hebb learning of phonological sequences creates novel word-forms representations in the mental lexicon by the mere passage of time, with sleep playing no necessary role. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)
Descriptors: Short Term Memory, Long Term Memory, Repetition, Novelty (Stimulus Dimension), Recall (Psychology), Vocabulary, Language Acquisition, Indo European Languages, Syllables, Reaction Time, Language Processing, Sleep
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A