Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lõo, Kaidi, Tavast, Arvi, Heitmeier, Maria, Baayen, Harald
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.03143
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909768576139264
author Lõo, Kaidi
Tavast, Arvi
Heitmeier, Maria
Baayen, Harald
author_facet Lõo, Kaidi
Tavast, Arvi
Heitmeier, Maria
Baayen, Harald
contents This study investigates lexical processing in Estonian. A large-scale single-subject experiment is reported that combines the word naming task with eye-tracking. Five response variables (first fixation duration, total fixation duration, number of fixations, word naming latency, and spoken word duration) are analyzed with the generalized additive model. Of central interest is the question of whether measures for lexical processing generated by a computational model of the mental lexicon (the Discriminative Lexicon Model, DLM) are predictive for these response variables, and how they compare to classical predictors such as word frequency, neighborhood size, and inflectional paradigm size. Computational models were implemented both with linear and deep mappings. Central findings are, first, that DLM-based measures are powerful predictors for lexical processing, second, that DLM-measures using deep learning are not necessarily more precise predictors of lexical processing than DLM-measures using linear mappings, third, that classical predictors tend to provide somewhat more precise fits compared to DLM-based predictors (except for total fixation duration, where the two provide equivalent goodness of fit), and fourth, that in the naming task lexical variables are not predictive for first fixation duration and the total number of fixations. As the DLM works with mappings from form to meaning, the predictivity of DLM-based measures for total fixation duration, naming latencies, and spoken word duration indicates that meaning is heavily involved in the present word naming task.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_03143
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An experimental and computational study of an Estonian single-person word naming
Lõo, Kaidi
Tavast, Arvi
Heitmeier, Maria
Baayen, Harald
Computation and Language
This study investigates lexical processing in Estonian. A large-scale single-subject experiment is reported that combines the word naming task with eye-tracking. Five response variables (first fixation duration, total fixation duration, number of fixations, word naming latency, and spoken word duration) are analyzed with the generalized additive model. Of central interest is the question of whether measures for lexical processing generated by a computational model of the mental lexicon (the Discriminative Lexicon Model, DLM) are predictive for these response variables, and how they compare to classical predictors such as word frequency, neighborhood size, and inflectional paradigm size. Computational models were implemented both with linear and deep mappings. Central findings are, first, that DLM-based measures are powerful predictors for lexical processing, second, that DLM-measures using deep learning are not necessarily more precise predictors of lexical processing than DLM-measures using linear mappings, third, that classical predictors tend to provide somewhat more precise fits compared to DLM-based predictors (except for total fixation duration, where the two provide equivalent goodness of fit), and fourth, that in the naming task lexical variables are not predictive for first fixation duration and the total number of fixations. As the DLM works with mappings from form to meaning, the predictivity of DLM-based measures for total fixation duration, naming latencies, and spoken word duration indicates that meaning is heavily involved in the present word naming task.
title An experimental and computational study of an Estonian single-person word naming
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.03143