There are now numerous published case-reports of brain-damaged patients presenting with a categor... more There are now numerous published case-reports of brain-damaged patients presenting with a category-specific conceptual deficit. The most frequently reported pattern is the one in which patients have a selective or disproportionate impairment in processing the concepts of living things, but the reverse pattern, with the nonliving concepts being more impaired, has also been reported. The existence of such patterns of dissociation suggests that the conceptual system is organized on a categorical basis. However, according to the most widely accepted account for category-specific semantic deficits, these patterns in fact emerge as an accidental consequence of another organizing principle of semantic knowledge, namely, the kind of properties (sensorial or functional) being represented. This "sensori-functional" account of category-specific semantic deficits presented itself as superior to a categorical account on the basis of the following points: (1) the patterns of dissociatio...
The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 2002
Two experiments used a digitizing tablet to analyse the temporal, spatial, and kinematic characte... more Two experiments used a digitizing tablet to analyse the temporal, spatial, and kinematic characteristics of handwritten production of arabic numbers. They addressed a specific issue of the numerical domain: Does the lexical and syntactic structure of verbal numerals influence the production of arabic numerals (Experiments 1 and 2), even after enforced semantic processing in a comparison task (Experiment 2)? Subjects had to write multi-digit arabic numerals (e.g., 1200) presented in two different verbal structures: a multiplicative one (e.g., teen-hundred, douze cents (twelve hundred)) or an additive one (e.g., thousand-unit-hundred, mille deux cents (one thousand two hundred)). Results show differences in the inter-digit jumps that reflect the influence of the structure of verbal numerals, even after the semantic task. This finding is discussed with regard to different models of number transcoding (McCloskey, Caramazza, & Basili, 1985; Power & Dal Martello, 1990, 1997).
We report a single case study of a 22-year-old, brain-damaged patient, Jennifer, who showed a sem... more We report a single case study of a 22-year-old, brain-damaged patient, Jennifer, who showed a semantic deficit affecting living entities (animals and fruit and vegetables) to a greater extent than non-living ones (implements and means of transport). We first show that this category effect was reliable both across time and naming conditions and that it was not an artefact of uncontrolled stimulus factors. We then show that Jennifer had no impairment at the visual or structural processing level and that her deficit was probably located at a semantic processing level. Specific semantic deficits for living entities have usually been explained by damage to the visual semantic system. However, when Jennifer's access to visual and non-visual semantics was assessed through an attribute-verification task, no evidence of an attributespecific impairment was found: Jennifer was equally impaired in retrieving visual and non-visual attributes of living entities and she was not at all impaired in retrieving visual attributes of non-living entities. Thus, the hypothesis of damage to visual semantics cannot account for the pattern of living things impairment found in this patient. Rather, this pattern seems to require the assumption that the semantic system is organized according to the living/non-living dimension.
and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study pu... more and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The experiment reported here investigated the sensitivity of concreteness effects to orthographic... more The experiment reported here investigated the sensitivity of concreteness effects to orthographic neighborhood density and frequency in the visual lexical decision task. The concreteness effect was replicated with a sample of concrete and abstract words that were not matched for orthographic neighborhood features and in which concrete words turned out to have a higher neighborhood density than abstract words. No consistent effect of concreteness was found with a sample of concrete and abstract words matched for orthographic neighborhood density and frequency and having fewer neighbors and higher-frequency neighbors than the words of the first sample. Post hoc analyses of the results showed that orthographic neighborhood density was not a nuisance variable producing a spurious effect of concreteness but, instead, that the existence of higher-frequency neighbors constitutes a necessary condition for concreteness effects to appear in the lexical decision task. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that semantic information is accessed and used to generate the responses in lexical decision when inhibition from orthographic forms delays the target word recognition.
The sensory-motor theory of conceptual representations assumes that motor knowledge of how an art... more The sensory-motor theory of conceptual representations assumes that motor knowledge of how an artifact is manipulated is constitutive of its conceptual representation. Accordingly, if we assume that the richer the conceptual representation of an object is, the easier that object is identified, manipulable artifacts that are associated with motor knowledge should be identified more accurately and/or faster than manipulable artifacts that are not (everything else being equal). In this study, we tested this prediction by investigating the identification of manipulable artifacts in an individual, DC, who was totally deprived of hand motor experience due to upper limb aplasia. This condition prevents him from interacting with most manipulable artifacts, for which he thus has no motor knowledge at all. However, he had motor knowledge for some of them, which he routinely uses with his feet. We contrasted DC's performance in a timed picture naming task for manipulable artifacts for which he had motor knowledge versus those for which he had no motor knowledge. No detectable advantage on DC's naming performance was found for artifacts for which he had motor knowledge compared to those for which he did not. This finding suggests that motor knowledge is not part of the concepts of manipulable artifacts.
In this paper, we report a detailed analysis of the impaired performance of a dysgraphic individu... more In this paper, we report a detailed analysis of the impaired performance of a dysgraphic individual, AD, who produced similar rates of letter-level errors in written spelling, oral spelling, and typing. We found that the distribution of various letter error types displayed a distinct pattern in written spelling on the one hand and in oral spelling and typing on the other. In particular, noncontextual letter substitution errors (i.e., errors in which the erroneous letter that replaces the target letter does not occur elsewhere within the word) were virtually absent in oral spelling and typing and mainly found in written spelling. In contrast, letter deletion errors and multiple-letter errors were typically found in oral spelling and very exceptional in written spelling. Only contextual letter substitution errors (i.e., errors in which the erroneous letter that replaces the target letter is identical to a letter occurring earlier or later in the word) were found in similar proportions...
We investigated with fMRI the cortical correlates of recovery of semantic processing in a patient... more We investigated with fMRI the cortical correlates of recovery of semantic processing in a patient (DL) with left temporal damage. Names of animals, plant, and artifacts (semantic conditions) and reversed words (baseline condition) were auditorily presented to the patient and nine control subjects in a category monitoring task. Data analyses showed large differences between the patterns of domainspecific semantic activation observed in DL and the control subjects, which could be attributed to a cortical reorganization compensating for the damaged part of the semantic processing system in DL. Such reorganization relied on three main mechanisms, first, upholding of a subset of the structurally intact domain-specific regions, second, functional changes (both decreases and increases) of the domain specificity in several structurally intact regions that are normally engaged in the domain-specific network and, third, recruitment of supplementary domain-specific areas. Thus, in DL, animal-specific processing engaged supplementary areas in the left lingual gyrus and right cuneus, which correspond to animalspecific regions usually engaged in more demanding semantic tasks whereas the supplementary areas recruited for artifact-specific processing within the left superior/middle occipital lobe and right angular gyrus probably are endowed with a related but not domain-specific, semantic function. In contrast, no supplementary area contributed to plant-specific processing in DL. These findings suggest that the pattern of cortical reorganization consecutive to damage to the semantic pr...
Please be patient while the object screen loads. Change Site View : Select a site… UCL FUNDP FUSL... more Please be patient while the object screen loads. Change Site View : Select a site… UCL FUNDP FUSL FUCaM. ...
There are now numerous published case-reports of brain-damaged patients presenting with a categor... more There are now numerous published case-reports of brain-damaged patients presenting with a category-specific conceptual deficit. The most frequently reported pattern is the one in which patients have a selective or disproportionate impairment in processing the concepts of living things, but the reverse pattern, with the nonliving concepts being more impaired, has also been reported. The existence of such patterns of dissociation suggests that the conceptual system is organized on a categorical basis. However, according to the most widely accepted account for category-specific semantic deficits, these patterns in fact emerge as an accidental consequence of another organizing principle of semantic knowledge, namely, the kind of properties (sensorial or functional) being represented. This "sensori-functional" account of category-specific semantic deficits presented itself as superior to a categorical account on the basis of the following points: (1) the patterns of dissociatio...
The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 2002
Two experiments used a digitizing tablet to analyse the temporal, spatial, and kinematic characte... more Two experiments used a digitizing tablet to analyse the temporal, spatial, and kinematic characteristics of handwritten production of arabic numbers. They addressed a specific issue of the numerical domain: Does the lexical and syntactic structure of verbal numerals influence the production of arabic numerals (Experiments 1 and 2), even after enforced semantic processing in a comparison task (Experiment 2)? Subjects had to write multi-digit arabic numerals (e.g., 1200) presented in two different verbal structures: a multiplicative one (e.g., teen-hundred, douze cents (twelve hundred)) or an additive one (e.g., thousand-unit-hundred, mille deux cents (one thousand two hundred)). Results show differences in the inter-digit jumps that reflect the influence of the structure of verbal numerals, even after the semantic task. This finding is discussed with regard to different models of number transcoding (McCloskey, Caramazza, & Basili, 1985; Power & Dal Martello, 1990, 1997).
We report a single case study of a 22-year-old, brain-damaged patient, Jennifer, who showed a sem... more We report a single case study of a 22-year-old, brain-damaged patient, Jennifer, who showed a semantic deficit affecting living entities (animals and fruit and vegetables) to a greater extent than non-living ones (implements and means of transport). We first show that this category effect was reliable both across time and naming conditions and that it was not an artefact of uncontrolled stimulus factors. We then show that Jennifer had no impairment at the visual or structural processing level and that her deficit was probably located at a semantic processing level. Specific semantic deficits for living entities have usually been explained by damage to the visual semantic system. However, when Jennifer's access to visual and non-visual semantics was assessed through an attribute-verification task, no evidence of an attributespecific impairment was found: Jennifer was equally impaired in retrieving visual and non-visual attributes of living entities and she was not at all impaired in retrieving visual attributes of non-living entities. Thus, the hypothesis of damage to visual semantics cannot account for the pattern of living things impairment found in this patient. Rather, this pattern seems to require the assumption that the semantic system is organized according to the living/non-living dimension.
and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study pu... more and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The experiment reported here investigated the sensitivity of concreteness effects to orthographic... more The experiment reported here investigated the sensitivity of concreteness effects to orthographic neighborhood density and frequency in the visual lexical decision task. The concreteness effect was replicated with a sample of concrete and abstract words that were not matched for orthographic neighborhood features and in which concrete words turned out to have a higher neighborhood density than abstract words. No consistent effect of concreteness was found with a sample of concrete and abstract words matched for orthographic neighborhood density and frequency and having fewer neighbors and higher-frequency neighbors than the words of the first sample. Post hoc analyses of the results showed that orthographic neighborhood density was not a nuisance variable producing a spurious effect of concreteness but, instead, that the existence of higher-frequency neighbors constitutes a necessary condition for concreteness effects to appear in the lexical decision task. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that semantic information is accessed and used to generate the responses in lexical decision when inhibition from orthographic forms delays the target word recognition.
The sensory-motor theory of conceptual representations assumes that motor knowledge of how an art... more The sensory-motor theory of conceptual representations assumes that motor knowledge of how an artifact is manipulated is constitutive of its conceptual representation. Accordingly, if we assume that the richer the conceptual representation of an object is, the easier that object is identified, manipulable artifacts that are associated with motor knowledge should be identified more accurately and/or faster than manipulable artifacts that are not (everything else being equal). In this study, we tested this prediction by investigating the identification of manipulable artifacts in an individual, DC, who was totally deprived of hand motor experience due to upper limb aplasia. This condition prevents him from interacting with most manipulable artifacts, for which he thus has no motor knowledge at all. However, he had motor knowledge for some of them, which he routinely uses with his feet. We contrasted DC's performance in a timed picture naming task for manipulable artifacts for which he had motor knowledge versus those for which he had no motor knowledge. No detectable advantage on DC's naming performance was found for artifacts for which he had motor knowledge compared to those for which he did not. This finding suggests that motor knowledge is not part of the concepts of manipulable artifacts.
In this paper, we report a detailed analysis of the impaired performance of a dysgraphic individu... more In this paper, we report a detailed analysis of the impaired performance of a dysgraphic individual, AD, who produced similar rates of letter-level errors in written spelling, oral spelling, and typing. We found that the distribution of various letter error types displayed a distinct pattern in written spelling on the one hand and in oral spelling and typing on the other. In particular, noncontextual letter substitution errors (i.e., errors in which the erroneous letter that replaces the target letter does not occur elsewhere within the word) were virtually absent in oral spelling and typing and mainly found in written spelling. In contrast, letter deletion errors and multiple-letter errors were typically found in oral spelling and very exceptional in written spelling. Only contextual letter substitution errors (i.e., errors in which the erroneous letter that replaces the target letter is identical to a letter occurring earlier or later in the word) were found in similar proportions...
We investigated with fMRI the cortical correlates of recovery of semantic processing in a patient... more We investigated with fMRI the cortical correlates of recovery of semantic processing in a patient (DL) with left temporal damage. Names of animals, plant, and artifacts (semantic conditions) and reversed words (baseline condition) were auditorily presented to the patient and nine control subjects in a category monitoring task. Data analyses showed large differences between the patterns of domainspecific semantic activation observed in DL and the control subjects, which could be attributed to a cortical reorganization compensating for the damaged part of the semantic processing system in DL. Such reorganization relied on three main mechanisms, first, upholding of a subset of the structurally intact domain-specific regions, second, functional changes (both decreases and increases) of the domain specificity in several structurally intact regions that are normally engaged in the domain-specific network and, third, recruitment of supplementary domain-specific areas. Thus, in DL, animal-specific processing engaged supplementary areas in the left lingual gyrus and right cuneus, which correspond to animalspecific regions usually engaged in more demanding semantic tasks whereas the supplementary areas recruited for artifact-specific processing within the left superior/middle occipital lobe and right angular gyrus probably are endowed with a related but not domain-specific, semantic function. In contrast, no supplementary area contributed to plant-specific processing in DL. These findings suggest that the pattern of cortical reorganization consecutive to damage to the semantic pr...
Please be patient while the object screen loads. Change Site View : Select a site… UCL FUNDP FUSL... more Please be patient while the object screen loads. Change Site View : Select a site… UCL FUNDP FUSL FUCaM. ...
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