title: Model-generated lexical activity predicts graded ERP amplitudes in lexical decision.
abstract: Recent neurocognitive studies of visual word recognition provide information about neuronal networks correlated with processes involved in lexical access and their time course (e.g., [Holcomb, Ph.J., Grainger J. and O'Rourke, T. (2002). An Electrophysiological Study of the Effects of Orthographic Neighborhood Size on Printed Word Perception, J. of Cogn. Neurosci. 14 938-950; Binder, J.R., McKiernan, K.A., Parsons, M.E., Westbury, C.F., Possing, E.T., Kaufman, J.N. and Buchanan, L. (2003). Neural Correlates of Lexical Access during Visual Word Recognition, J. Cogn. Neurosci. 15 372-393.]). These studies relate the orthographic neighborhood density of letter strings to the amount of global lexical activity in the brain, generated by a hypothetical mental lexicon as speculated in an early paper by [Jacobs, A.M. and Carr, T.H. (1995). Mind mappers and cognitive modelers: Toward cross-fertilization, Behav. Brain. Sci. 18 362-363]. The present study uses model-generated stimuli theoretically eliciting graded global lexical activity and relates this activity to activation of lexical processing networks using event-related potentials (ERPs). The results from a lexical decision task provide evidence for an effect of lexicality around 350 ms post-stimulus and also a graded effect of global lexical activity for nonwords around 500 ms post-stimulus. The data are interpreted as reflecting two different decision processes: an identification process based on local lexical activity underlying the 'yes' response to words and a temporal deadline process underlying the 'no' response to nonwords based on global lexical activity.
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Allgemeine Psychologie/General Psychology Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaften und Psychologie, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany. mmbraun@zedat.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Arthur M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hahne
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ricker
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hutzler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary