@article{CiaccioVerissimo2022,
  author    = {Ciaccio, Laura Anna and Ver{\´i}ssimo, Jo{\~a}o},
  title     = {Investigating variability in morphological processing with Bayesian distributional models},
  series = {Psychonomic bulletin \& review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society},
  journal   = {Psychonomic bulletin \& review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {1069-9384},
  doi       = {10.3758/s13423-022-02109-w},
  pages     = {2264 -- 2274},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {We investigated the processing of morphologically complex words adopting an approach that goes beyond estimating average effects and allows testing predictions about variability in performance. We tested masked morphological priming effects with English derived ('printer') and inflected ('printed') forms priming their stems ('print') in non-native speakers, a population that is characterized by large variability. We modeled reaction times with a shifted-lognormal distribution using Bayesian distributional models, which allow assessing effects of experimental manipulations on both the mean of the response distribution ('mu') and its standard deviation ('sigma'). Our results show similar effects on mean response times for inflected and derived primes, but a difference between the two on the sigma of the distribution, with inflectional priming increasing response time variability to a significantly larger extent than derivational priming. This is in line with previous research on non-native processing, which shows more variable results across studies for the processing of inflected forms than for derived forms. More generally, our study shows that treating variability in performance as a direct object of investigation can crucially inform models of language processing, by disentangling effects which would otherwise be indistinguishable. We therefore emphasize the importance of looking beyond average performance and testing predictions on other parameters of the distribution rather than just its central tendency.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CiaccioKgoloClahsen2020,
  author    = {Ciaccio, Laura Anna and Kgolo, Naledi and Clahsen, Harald},
  title     = {Morphological decomposition in Bantu},
  series = {Language, cognition and neuroscience},
  volume    = {35},
  journal   = {Language, cognition and neuroscience},
  number    = {10},
  publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group},
  address   = {Abingdon},
  issn      = {2327-3798},
  doi       = {10.1080/23273798.2020.1722847},
  pages     = {1257 -- 1271},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {African languages have rarely been the subject of psycholinguistic experimentation. The current study employs a masked visual priming experiment to investigate morphological processing in a Bantu language, Setswana. Our study takes advantage of the rich system of prefixes in Bantu languages, which offers the opportunity of testing morphological priming effects from prefixed inflected words and directly comparing them to priming effects from prefixed derived words on the same targets. We found significant priming effects of similar magnitude for both prefixed inflected and derived word forms, which were clearly dissociable from prime-target relatedness in both meaning and (orthographic) form. These findings provide support for a (possibly universal) mechanism of morphological decomposition applied during early visual word recognition that segments both (prefixed) inflected and derived word forms into their morphological constituents.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CiaccioJacob2019,
  author    = {Ciaccio, Laura Anna and Jacob, Gunnar},
  title     = {Native speakers like affixes, L2 speakers like letters?},
  series = {PLoS one},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {PLoS one},
  number    = {12},
  publisher = {PLoS},
  address   = {San Fransisco},
  issn      = {1932-6203},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0226482},
  pages     = {20},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {In an overt visual priming experiment, we investigate the role of orthography in native (L1) and non-native (L2) processing of German morphologically complex words. We compare priming effects for inflected and derived morphologically related prime-target pairs versus otherwise matched, purely orthographically related pairs. The results show morphological priming effects in both the L1 and L2 group, with no significant difference between inflection and derivation. However, L2 speakers, but not L1 speakers, also showed significant priming for orthographically related pairs. Our results support the claim that L2 speakers focus more on surface-level information such as orthography during visual word recognition. This can cause orthographic priming effects in morphologically related prime-target pairs, which may conceal L1-L2 differences in morphological processing.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CiaccioClahsen2019,
  author    = {Ciaccio, Laura Anna and Clahsen, Harald},
  title     = {Variability and consistency in first and second language processing},
  series = {Language Learning},
  volume    = {70},
  journal   = {Language Learning},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {0023-8333},
  doi       = {10.1111/lang.12370},
  pages     = {103 -- 136},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Word forms such as walked or walker are decomposed into their morphological constituents (walk + -ed/-er) during language comprehension. Yet, the efficiency of morphological decomposition seems to vary for different languages and morphological types, as well as for first and second language speakers. The current study reports results from a visual masked priming experiment focusing on different types of derived word forms (specifically prefixed vs. suffixed) in first and second language speakers of German. We compared the present findings with results from previous studies on inflection and compounding and proposed an account of morphological decomposition that captures both the variability and the consistency of morphological decomposition for different morphological types and for first and second language speakers. Open Practices This article has been awarded an Open Materials badge. Study materials are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at . Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science: .},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CiaccioBurchertSemenza2020,
  author    = {Ciaccio, Laura Anna and Burchert, Frank and Semenza, Carlo},
  title     = {Derivational morphology in agrammatic aphasia},
  series = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation},
  address   = {Lausanne},
  issn      = {1664-1078},
  doi       = {10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01070},
  pages     = {15},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Although a relatively large number of studies on acquired language impairments have tested the case of derivational morphology, none of these have specifically investigated whether there are differences in how prefixed and suffixed derived words are impaired. Based on linguistic and psycholinguistic considerations on prefixed and suffixed derived words, differences in how these two types of derivations are processed, and consequently impaired, are predicted. In the present study, we investigated the errors produced in reading aloud simple, prefixed, and suffixed words by three German individuals with agrammatic aphasia (NN, LG, SA). We found that, while NN and LG produced similar numbers of errors with prefixed and suffixed words, SA showed a selective impairment for prefixed words. Furthermore, NN and SA produced more errors specifically involving the affix with prefixed words than with suffixed words. We discuss our findings in terms of relative position of stem and affix in prefixed and suffixed words, as well as in terms of specific properties of prefixes and suffixes.},
  language  = {en}
}