ABSTRACT

Background

Diagnosis of semantic impairment in stroke and progressive neuro-cognitive conditions is typically facilitated using tests of word comprehension, such as word-picture matching. Many of these tests are not controlled for psycholinguistic variables or the semantic relationships between competitor stimuli and involve pictures which are not controlled for ease of access. Semantic assessment also demands additional cognitive resources, such as explicit decision-making and suppression of semantic competitors. These factors may all confound test performance and subsequent diagnosis.

Aims

To develop novel semantic test stimuli for three new semantic processing assessments, which are controlled for psycholinguistic variables, semantic relationship between stimuli, and visual similarity between images presented simultaneously. An additional aim included matching stimuli for these variables across three tests: semantic priming, word-picture verification, and word-picture matching, to allow direct comparison of performance on tests that differ in terms of the additional cognitive demands involved, with priming entailing implicit semantic processing.

Methods & Procedures

In phase one, novel stimuli were developed for the three semantic processing tests. Existing databases were searched for values to match stimuli psycholinguistic variables. In phase two, new data were collected from control participants regarding the semantic and visual similarity of stimuli presented simultaneously.

Outcomes & Results

Data for three sets of target and distractor stimuli are presented, which are psycholinguistically matched within and between the three semantic tests for concreteness, imageability, age of acquisition, frequency, word length, and emotional valence. “Semantic” relationships between pairs of stimuli are differentiated by semantic similarity (dog-cat) or association (dog-lead). Visual similarity is controlled between images presented in an array.

Conclusions

The data provided ensure that test performance across three semantic tasks, differing in additional cognitive demands, can be directly compared in people with potential semantic deficits. This is the first such study to provide control of stimuli within and across a range of semantic tests. Patterns of performance via test reaction time and accuracy data may reveal semantic deficit or competence, contributing to more accurate diagnosis and appropriate therapy choice.

中文翻译：

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用于评估词汇语义的新型匹配刺激

摘要

背景

通常使用单词理解测试（例如单词图片匹配）来促进中风和进行性神经认知状况中的语义障碍的诊断。其中许多测试没有针对心理语言学变量或竞争对手刺激之间的语义关系进行控制，并且涉及为便于访问而不受控制的图片。语义评估还需要额外的认知资源，例如明确的决策和抑制语义竞争者。这些因素都可能混淆测试性能和随后的诊断。

目标

为三个新的语义处理评估开发新的语义测试刺激，这些测试由心理语言变量、刺激之间的语义关系以及同时呈现的图像之间的视觉相似性进行控制。另一个目标包括在三个测试中匹配这些变量的刺激：语义启动、单词图片验证和单词图片匹配，以便直接比较在所涉及的额外认知需求方面不同的测试中的表现，启动需要隐含语义处理。

方法和程序

在第一阶段，为三个语义处理测试开发了新的刺激。在现有数据库中搜索匹配刺激心理语言变量的值。在第二阶段，从控制参与者那里收集有关同时呈现的刺激的语义和视觉相似性的新数据。

结果和结果

提供了三组目标和干扰刺激的数据，这些数据在具体性、成像性、习得年龄、频率、词长和情感效价的三个语义测试内和之间在心理语言学上匹配。刺激对之间的“语义”关系通过语义相似性（dog-cat）或关联（dog-lead）来区分。在阵列中呈现的图像之间控制视觉相似性。

结论

所提供的数据确保可以在具有潜在语义缺陷的人中直接比较三个语义任务的测试性能，这些任务的附加认知需求不同。这是第一个在一系列语义测试内和跨语义测试提供刺激控制的此类研究。通过测试反应时间和准确性数据的表现模式可能会揭示语义缺陷或能力，有助于更准确的诊断和适当的治疗选择。