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It Takes Time to Prime: Semantic Priming in Ocular Response Tasks
Thu, Nov 20, 2014 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Renske S. Hoedemaker, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Talk Title: It Takes Time to Prime: Semantic Priming in Ocular Response Tasks
Abstract: Semantic priming - the facilitation in processing a word when it is preceded by a semantically related word - is very robust in tasks where words are recognized in isolation but is quite limited during text reading. We evaluate the contributions of response mode and task goals to semantic priming by replacing the manual response mode typically used in isolated word recognition tasks with an eye-movement response through a sequence of words. These ocular response tasks combine the explicit control of subjectsâ goals found in isolated word-recognition asks with the fast, well-practiced ocular response mode used in reading text. Across both lexical decision and recognition memory tasks, ocular response times are much shorter than manual responses for the same words in comparable tasks, yet show a strong relationship with word frequency as well as a robust effect of semantic priming. Ongoing work on this project uses Ex-Gaussian distribution fits to investigate how task goals may interact with semantic priming effects on eye movements during visual word recognition.
Biography: Renske S. Hoedemaker received her BA in Psychology from Lawrence University in 2010 and her MA in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012. She is currently a PhD candidate working with Dr. Peter C. Gordon in the cognitive psychology program at UNC Chapel Hill, expecting to graduate in May 2015. Her research focuses on the way skilled readers coordinate different stages of lexico-semantic and other cognitive processes in a goal-driven manner to achieve fast and efficient performance on word recognition and other sequential tasks. Her dissertation explores the nature of semantic priming using ocular response tasks.
Host: Prof. Shrikanth Narayanan
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Tanya Acevedo-Lam
