City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects CUNY Graduate Center 6-2021 Predictors of Lexical Accessibility of Common and Proper Nouns in Older Age: Evidence from the Tip-of-the-Tongue State Amy Victoria Vogel-Eyny The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4367 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] PREDICTORS OF LEXICAL ACCESSIBILITY OF COMMON AND PROPER NOUNS IN OLDER AGE: EVIDENCE FROM THE TIP-OF-THE-TONGUE STATE by AMY VOGEL-EYNY A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2021 © 2021 AMY VOGEL-EYNY All rights reserved ii Predictors of lexical accessibility of common and proper nouns in older age: Evidence from the tip-of-the-tongue state by Amy Vogel-Eyny This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Speech-Language- Hearing Sciences in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ______________________ __________________________________________ Date Loraine K. Obler, Ph.D. Chair of Examining Committee Date ______________________ __________________________________________ Date Mira Goral, Ph.D., CCC-SLP Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Elizabeth Galletta, Ph.D., CCC-SLP Mira Goral, Ph.D., CCC-SLP External Reviewer: Jamie Reilly, Ph.D., CCC-SLP THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Predictors of lexical accessibility of common and proper nouns in older age: Evidence from the tip-of-the-tongue state by Amy Vogel-Eyny Advisor: Loraine K. Obler, PhD One of the notable language difficulties experienced by healthy older adults is word retrieval failure, specifically the tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT). A TOT occurs when one has a strong sense of knowing the word, such that the semantic content is accessed, but the entirety of the word’s phonology is temporarily inaccessible. Such retrieval difficulty is attributable, at least in part, to characteristics of the target word. Psycholinguistic features may uniquely influence the semantic and/or phonological stages of word production. An additional factor known to influence TOT-likelihood is noun type: proper nouns elicit TOTs more often than do common nouns. The discrepancy between the likelihood of a TOT for the two noun types is hypothesized to be due to their differential representation in the mental lexicon. The difference hinges on the connection architecture at the semantic level (between semantic nodes and the lemma node) for common and proper nouns – the former characterized by convergent, many-to-one connections and the latter by one-to-one connections. The extent to which the representation of common and proper nouns accounts for retrieval difficulties as a consequence of psycholinguistic factors known to interact with the semantic level and phonological levels is poorly understood. Therefore, this dissertation examined the contribution of several psycholinguistic features to the likelihood of successful retrieval at the semantic and phonological stages in a set of common and proper nouns. iv Fifty-two monolingual English-speaking, healthy older adults between the ages of 54 and 89 participated in a TOT-inducing, computerized word naming task. Participants named targets from a selected subset of the total stimulus set of 1,102 words (587 proper nouns and 515 common nouns). Each target was cued independently from a picture and definition; however, cue type was counterbalanced across participants such that no-one saw the same target in both cue modalities. Analyses focused on the influence of the psycholinguistic features (namely self-rated frequency and familiarity, Zipf frequency, MRC familiarity, word-length in phonemes, neighborhood density, and first-syllable frequency) on word-retrieval performance at both stages of retrieval using a two-step model of TOTs. The results of the current research offer novel evidence for the independent influence of frequency and familiarity on the likelihood of retrieval success at the semantic and phonological levels of lexical processing. Specifically, frequency was found to benefit both stages of retrieval for proper names and the phonological stage alone for common nouns. This finding suggests a frequency-related advantage such that one-to-one connections are favored at the semantic and phonological levels. By contrast, familiarity benefited retrieval at both stages for both noun types, indicating that an effect of familiarity is agnostic to connection architecture at each level. The present study also offers new evidence for a cue-related retrieval advantage at the semantic level for common nouns (but not proper nouns) retrieved from picture cues. There was no effect of the other psycholinguistic features tested for either word type or stage of lexical processing. This research establishes the independent contribution of psycholinguistic features to TOT occurrence in common and proper nouns in relation to the overall architecture of the semantic and phonological systems. v To Steven Louis Vogel There is a light that never goes out. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This odyssey that is graduate school, punctuated by some of the highest-highs and lowest lows, illuminated, enriched, and shaped my nature – much to the better. There are many individuals who are owed my fondest appreciation, and my eternal thanks for their encouragement, support, and kindness. To Loraine Obler, my advisor and trusty captain, who had taken me into her laboratory as a volunteer and had strengthened my resolve to pursue my doctorate in Speech-Language- Hearing Sciences: thank you for helping me to realize the necessity and importance of reaching beyond one’s comfort to acquire new skills and new experiences, and to understand that to do so unapologetically is even better. There is thoughtfulness and care in all you say and do – from friendly conversations about daily happenings to complex discussions of methodological approaches – that I hope to carry with me. Your passion for language in aging became my own. To Elizabeth Galletta, my committee member and faithful guide, who brought me into the folds of her research: to you I owe my conversion to a clinician researcher. With grace, you brought humanity into the laboratory and into the classroom – reminding those around you of the people behind the conditions we speech-language pathologists and researchers ultimately serve. Thank you for ceaselessly advocating for me over the years and for always believing that I deserved that. I wish to always see others as you do and to remain cognizant of the beauty of our work as clinician researchers. To Mira Goral, my committee member and grounding force, who was consistently there to remind me of the ultimate goal of having started this doctorate: finishing it – you welcomed me into your laboratory and allowed me to play a small but meaningful role, to me, in overseeing vii some of the brightest and most hardworking students I have ever encountered. I thank and value you for your calm and rational approach to research and life more generally. To current and former Neurolinguistics Laboratory members, an epic would not be complete without a group of fellow wanderers to make the return journey alongside. Thank you all for filling these intervening days with downright hysterical moments that nicely complemented downright unpleasant moments when your friendship and intellect were sought. Special thanks and appreciation are due to dear friends and lab mates, Sameer Ashaie, a kindred soul, Aviva Lerman a keen motivator, Jet Vonk, an enthusiastic mentor, Iris Strangmann, a tireless supporter, Marta Korytkowska, a steadfast companion, and Taryn Malcolm, a fearless fellow dissertator. To my research assistants, Natalia Dos Santos Salles, Daniela Castillo, Johanna Pino Grisales, and Mairenit Liriano, whose efforts on this project not only allowed the study to come to fruition but also brought new insight and perspective to the research process. Collectively you always kept me on my toes and never allowed me to take an idea for granted, thank you. To the Eyny family, who never anticipated another daughter, sister, or aunt, but allowed me the privilege of holding such dear positions in their lives. To be supportive, nurturing, and generous with your love is reflexive and instinctive. I have been fortunate in that I never needed to ask for help because you had already given it to me. With the utmost gratitude: Miriam and Zvi, thank you for modeling unconditional love; Sharon and Natalie, thank you for remaining by my side with humor and affection; and Daniel, thank you for being a sincere human – untainted by the world, which feels rare these days. To my sisters, Sarah and Jane, who were there from the beginning. Thank you for exemplifying characteristics of strength, determination, and perseverance against all odds. viii To my husband, Yaniv Eyny, my Penelope in jest, thank you for staying the course with me. There are many words of gratitude for you and for what you represent in my life that would outstretch this dissertation. I look up to you beyond measure, with your effortless, boundless, and selfless ability to support and guide those around you. To the question “ Do I dare?” your answer to me has unfailingly been “yes.” For that, for gently raising me up, and for making everything worth it, I love and thank you. Then there is Mina Eyny, my other bright spot in this world. Thank you for your natural enchantment and your pureness of heart, qualities that I celebrate in you and aspire to in myself. This world and my life are more beautiful and more meaningful for having you both in it.