Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5042535 | Journal of Memory and Language | 2017 | 21 Pages |
â¢We implement a computational model of first and second language reading over the lifespan.â¢The model simulates individual differences in effects of psycholinguistic factors.â¢Individual differences in frequency effects are due to exposure, not vocabulary size.â¢The model provides causal explanations of correlations in theories of word processing.
Individuals show differences in the extent to which psycholinguistic variables predict their responses for lexical processing tasks. A key variable accounting for much variance in lexical processing is frequency, but the size of the frequency effect has been demonstrated to reduce as a consequence of the individual's vocabulary size. Using a connectionist computational implementation of the triangle model on a large set of English words, where orthographic, phonological, and semantic representations interact during processing, we show that the model demonstrates a reduced frequency effect as a consequence of amount of exposure to the language, a variable that was also a cause of greater vocabulary size in the model. The model was also trained to learn a second language, Dutch, and replicated behavioural observations that increased proficiency in a second language resulted in reduced frequency effects for that language but increased frequency effects in the first language. The model provides a first step to demonstrating causal relations between psycholinguistic variables in a model of individual differences in lexical processing, and the effect of bilingualism on interacting variables within the language processing system.