Table_1_A Picture Is Worth… Both Spelling and Sound.DOCX

In an event-related potential (ERP) study using picture stimuli, we explored whether spelling information is co-activated with sound information even when neither type of information is explicitly provided. Pairs of picture stimuli presented in a rhyming paradigm were varied by both phonology (the two images in a pair had either rhyming, e.g., boat and goat, or non-rhyming, e.g., boat and cane, labels) and orthography (rhyming image pairs had labels that were either spelled the same, e.g., boat and goat, or not spelled the same, e.g., brain and cane). Electrophysiological picture rhyming (sound) effects were evident in terms of both N400/N450 and late effect amplitude: Non-rhyming images elicited more negative waves than rhyming images. Remarkably, the magnitude of the late ERP rhyming effect was modulated by spelling – even though words were neither explicitly seen nor heard during the task. Moreover, both the N400/N450 and late rhyming effects in the spelled-the-same (orthographically matched) condition were larger in the group with higher scores (by median split) on a standardized measure of sound awareness. Overall, the findings show concomitant meaning (semantic), sound (phonological), and spelling (orthographic) activation for picture processing in a rhyming paradigm, especially in young adults with better reading skills. Not outwardly lexical but nonetheless modulated by reading skill, electrophysiological picture rhyming effects may be useful for exploring co-activation in children with dyslexia.

本研究采用图片刺激开展事件相关电位（event-related potential, ERP）实验，旨在探讨当既未明确呈现拼写信息也未明确呈现语音信息时，二者是否会被共同激活。实验采用押韵范式呈现图片刺激对，这些刺激对同时在语音与正字法两个维度进行变化：语音维度上，图片对的标签要么押韵（如boat与goat），要么不押韵（如boat与cane）；正字法维度上，押韵图片对的标签要么拼写一致（如boat与goat），要么拼写不一致（如brain与cane）。图片押韵（语音）效应的电生理指标在N400/N450成分及晚成分振幅上均表现显著：不押韵图片引发的脑电波负向波幅显著高于押韵图片。值得注意的是，即便实验任务中既未让被试主动看见也未听见单词，晚期ERP押韵效应的幅度仍受正字法信息调控。此外，在拼写一致（正字法匹配）条件下，N400/N450成分与晚期押韵效应的幅度，均在基于标准化语音意识量表得分进行中位数拆分后的高分组中更为显著。综上，本研究结果表明，在押韵范式下的图片加工过程中，语义、语音与正字法表征会被同时激活，这一现象在阅读能力更佳的青年群体中尤为明显。该电生理图片押韵效应并非外显词汇加工过程，但仍受阅读技能调控，因此可用于探索阅读障碍儿童的共同激活机制。