Cross-language computational investigation of the length effect in reading aloud.
The authors examined whether 2 computational models of reading, the dual-route cascaded model (M. Coltheart, K. Rastle, C. Perry, R. Langdon, & J. C. Ziegler, 2001) and the connectionist 2-layer model (M. Zorzi, G. Houghton, & B. Butterworth, 1998), were able to predict the pattern that the length effect found in reading aloud is larger in German than in English (J. C. Ziegler, C. Perry, A. M. Jacobs, & M. Braun, 2001). The results showed that the dual-route cascaded model, which uses a serial mechanism for assembling phonology, successfully predicted this cross-language difference. In contrast, the connectionist model of Zorzi et al. (1998) predicted the opposite: a larger length effect in English than in German. Both the success of one model and the failure of the other highlight fundamental differences between 2 major classes of computational models.
Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. conrad@maccs.mq.edu.au
Conrad
C
Perry
Johannes C
JC
Ziegler
D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D011932:Reading; D013997:Time Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior