Development of neural processes mediating rhyme judgments: Phonological and orthographic interactions.
Development of neural processes underlying integration of phonological and orthographic information were assessed by measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs), judgment accuracies and reaction times (RTs) in 20 children (9-10 years) and 20 adults performing visual rhyme judgments. Half the trials were phonologically and orthographically congruent across the prime-target pairs (e.g., thrown-own, cake-own), and half were incongruent (e.g., gown-own, cone-own). For both children and adults, behavioral performance was most affected when different phonological representations had to be encoded from similar orthographic representations (e.g., gown-own), and the amplitudes of the N350 reflected effects of both rhyme and phonological/orthographic congruency. Latencies of the N350 were shorter over the left hemisphere only in adults, and phonological/orthographic incongruence produced greater delays in children's processing. Therefore, it appears that neural systems mediating rhyming judgments develop early; however, adults exhibit increased efficiency for left-hemisphere processing and are less affected by interference from incongruent phonological and orthographic codes.
Weber-Fox
Christine
C
Department of Audiology and Speech Sciences, Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-1353, USA. weberfox@purdue.edu
Spencer
Rebecca
R
Cuadrado
Elizabeth
E
Smith
Anne
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007802:Language; D010700:Phonetics; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires