Does na a o a iabili y acili a e inciden al wo d
lea ning in he class oom?
José Luis Tapia
1
&E a Rosa
2
&F ancisco Rocabado
1
&Ma a Ve ga a-Ma ínez
2
&Manuel Pe ea
1,2,3
Accep ed: 30 July 2021
#The Au ho (s) 2021
Abs ac
Recen s udies ha e e ealed ha p esen ing no el wo ds ac oss a ious con ex s (i.e., con ex ual di e si y) helps o
consolida e he meaning o hese wo ds bo h in adul s and child en. This e ec has been ypically explained in e ms o
seman ic dis inc i eness (e.g., Seman ic Dis inc i eness Model, Jones e al., Canadian Jou nal o Expe imen al
Psychology,66(2), 115, 2012). Howe e , he ela i e in luence o o he , non-seman ic, elemen s o he con ex is s ill
unclea . In his s udy, we examined whe he inciden al lea ning o new wo ds in child en was acili a ed when he wo ds
we e u e ed by se e al indi iduals a he han when hey we e u e ed by he same indi idual. In he lea ning phase, he
o-be-lea ned wo ds we e p esen ed h ough audible ables eco ded ei he by he same oice (low di e si y) o by
di e en oices (high di e si y). Subsequen ly, wo d lea ning was assessed h ough wo o hog aphic and seman ic
in eg a ion asks. Resul s showed ha wo ds u e ed by di e en oices we e lea ned be e han hose u e ed by he
same oice. Thus, he bene i s o con ex ual di e si y in wo d lea ning ex end beyond seman ic di e ences among
con ex s; hey also bene i om pe cep ual di e ences among con ex s.
Keywo ds Con ex ual di e si y .Na a o a iabili y .Indexical in o ma ion .Inciden al wo d lea ning
In oduc ion
In an in luen ial s udy, Adelman e al. (2006) ound ha
con ex ual di e si y, de ined as he numbe o di e en
documen s in which a wo d appea s, was he s onges
acili a i e p edic o o esponse imes (e en mo e han
wo d- equency) in wo d-naming and lexical-decision
asks. This inding has been eplica ed nume ous imes
no only in wo d- ecogni ion asks (e.g., B ysbae e al.,
2012; Cai & B ysbae , 2010; Dimi opoulou e al., 2010;
Duchon e al., 2013; Keulee s e al., 2010;Soa ese al.,
2015), bu also du ing sen ence eading (e.g., Chen e al.,
2017; Pagán & Na ion, 2019;Plumme e al.,2014).
Impo an ly, while con ex ual di e si y and wo d
equency a e highly co ela ed (i.e., wo ds ha appea
in many con ex s also end o be o high equency), hey
ap on o quali a i ely di e en cogni i e and b ain p o-
cesses (see Ve ga a-Ma ínez e al., 2017): N400 ampli-
udes (i.e., an elec ophysiological signa u e o lexical-
seman ic p ocessing) a e la ge o low- han o high-
equency wo ds. In con as , N400 ampli udes a e la ge
o high- han o low-con ex ual di e si y wo ds.
Mo e impo an o he pu poses o he p esen e-
sea ch, con ex ual di e si y also plays a acili a i e ole
du ing wo d lea ning. A co ela ional analysis o he
CHILDES da abase ( his da abase con ains child-di ec ed
speech owa d 12- o 60-mon h-old child en) e ealed ha
child en lea ned mo e apidly wo ds ha occu in many
con ex s (Hills e al., 2010). The ela ionship be ween
con ex ual di e si y and wo d lea ning was also examined
expe imen ally wi h adul eade s (Jones e al., 2012). The
Jones e al. (2012) s udy used an a i icial language-
lea ning pa adigm in which pa icipan s lea ned a lexicon
made up o 12 new wo ds: ou subjec wo ds (un amilia
images), ou objec wo ds (geome ic shapes cons uc ed
om geons), and ou loca i es (i.e., abo e, below).
Du ing he aining phase, pa icipan s iewed slides ha
consis ed o an image and a h ee-wo d sen ence ha
*E a Rosa
e a. osa@u .es
1
Uni e sidad Neb ija, Mad id, Spain
2
Depa men o Psychology, Uni e si a de València, Blasco Ibáñez,
21, 46010 Valencia, Spain
3
Basque Cen e on Cogni ion, B ain, and Language (BCBL),
Donos ia, Spain
h ps://doi.o g/10.3758/s13421-021-01228-4
/ Published online: 20 Sep embe 2021
Memo y & Cogni ion (2022) 50:278–295
desc ibed ha image. The wo ds belonging o he low-
di e si y condi ion always appea ed in he same seman ic
con ex (i.e., eigh encoun e s wi h he same sen ence and
he same image), whe eas he wo ds belonging o he
high-di e si y condi ion appea ed in di e en seman ic
con ex s (i.e., eigh encoun e s wi h di e en sen ences
and hei co esponding images). A e he aining phase,
pa icipan s comple ed a pseudo-lexical decision ask (“is
he i em a wo d in his language?”). Response imes we e
as e o hose wo ds lea ned in seman ically dis inc con-
ex s han o hose lea ned in edundan con ex s.
To explain he acili a i e e ec o con ex ual di e si y
on wo d lea ning, Jones e al. (2012) p oposed he
Seman ic Dis inc i eness Model (hence o h, SDM). A
basic assump ion o his model is ha he memo y en-
hancemen o a wo d meaning does no only bene i om
me e epe i ion, bu a he om seman ic changes ac oss
con ex s whe e lea ning akes place. When we lea n
wo ds, he maximal s eng h o wo d encoding occu s a
he i s encoun e . In u he encoun e s wi h ha wo d,
i s s eng h codi ica ion will bene i om di e ences be-
ween he con ex in which i is e-encoun e ed and ou
p e ious lexical po ayal. Tha is, each new encoun e
wi h a wo d con ibu es o lea ning i bu , he g ea e he
di e ence be ween he cu en con ex and he con ex s in
which he wo d has been p e iously expe ienced, he
g ea e he bene i s o wo d lea ning. Simila ly, he hy-
po hesis o con ex ual a iabili y (see Bolge e al., 2008)
posi s ha new concep s’lea ning is mo e e ec i e i i
occu s in di e en sen ences o con ex s han i i occu s
in a single con ex . This hypo hesis a gues ha e e y en-
coun e wi h a wo d in a dis inc con ex c ea es a mem-
o y ace wi h he con ex ’s episodic in o ma ion, so ha
he mo e memo y aces a wo d has, he easie i will la e
be e ie ed (Fukkink e al., 2001;Nagye al.,1985;
Nagy e al., 1987).
Consis en wi h he SDM, Johns e al. (2016) ound a
bene i o he di e si y o con ex s in an expe imen whe e
uni e si y s uden s lea ned new in en ed wo ds by ead-
ing agmen s ex ac ed om a icles, books, and newspa-
pe s. F agmen s could comp ise i e passages ei he om
a single discou se opic (low di e si y) o om a numbe
o dis inc opics (high di e si y). Resul s showed as e
and mo e accu a e ecogni ion imes in a lexical decision
ask o hose wo ds lea ned in high han in low dis inc-
i e passages.
In a mo e applied scena io, Rosa e al. (2017)exam-
ined he ole o con ex ual di e si y on inciden al wo d
lea ning wi h G ade 3 child en in a 4-day expe imen al
se ing in he class oom. Du ing he ini ial 3-day aining
phase, he s uden s ead h ee ex s (a able, an exposi o y
ex wi h science con en s, and a ex wi h ma h p oblems)
con aining he no el wo ds. (As is common in class oom
se ings, child en we e old ha hey had o guess om
he con ex o hose wo ds hey did no know.) In he
high-di e si y condi ion, no el wo ds we e p esen ed in
h ee seman ically di e en con ex s (e.g., ma h, sciences,
language), whe eas in he low-di e si y condi ion hey
we e p esen ed in h ee seman ically simila con ex s
(e.g., always in sciences con ex s). On he ou h day,
lea ning was assessed h ough wo memo y asks ( ee
ecall and ecogni ion) and wo seman ic and o hog aphic
in eg a ion asks (ma ching wo ds wi h pic og ams and
mul iple-choice ask wi h lexical dis ac o s). The esul s
o his s udy showed ha he no el wo ds p esen ed in
seman ically di e en con ex s we e lea ned be e han
hose no el wo ds p esen ed in seman ically simila con-
ex s in all ou dependen a iables. In he same line,
ano he s udy using he eye-mo emen pa adigm exam-
ined how con ex ual di e si y a ia ions (i.e., wo ds p e-
sen ed in he same sen ence o in di e en sen ences) in-
luenced wo d lea ning in adul s (Pagán & Na ion, 2019).
A e ie al ask e ealed ha wo ds p esen ed in di e se
con ex s we e lea ned be e han hose lea ned in he
same con ex .
The esul s om he abo e-ci ed expe imen al s udies ha e
been in e p e ed in e ms o he lexical-seman ic enhancemen
p oduced by con ex ual di e si y, wi hin he amewo k o he
SDM. No wi hs anding, while seman ics may well unde lie
he e ec o con ex ual di e si yinwo dlea ning,Johns
e al. (2016) acknowledged ha “ his could also be seen as
an episodic e ec ,” he eason being ha he manipula ion o
con ex ual di e si y “could be in e p e ed as an encoding a -
iabili y manipula ion (Bowe ,1970), in which dis inc i e con-
ex s lead o di e en ial encoding, esul ing in he obse ed
di e ences in ask pe o mance.”(p. 1219). The p esen ex-
pe imen is an a emp o ill his gap in he li e a u e. In pa -
icula , he ocus was on assessing he impac o an encoding
manipula ion ( alke a iabili y) on wo d lea ning.
Language is s o ed in he memo y in a high-
dimensional manne ha includes conc e e and de ailed
pa e ns o non-linguis ic audi o y cues associa ed wi h
he speech p oduc ion, such as he speake ’s pi ch and
p osodic cha ac e is ics (e.g., speaking empo, p onuncia-
ion, and in ona ion). These non-linguis ic cues a e be e
unde s ood as indexical in o ma ion, and i s a iabili y
e ec o e he p ocessing and ep esen a ion o linguis ic
audi o y in o ma ion has been a ma e o deba e in he
pas decades (see Po , 2007, o a e iew). Wi h espec
o wo d lea ning, indexical in o ma ion plays a ele an
279Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
ole in mo e ecen heo ies o speech pe cep ion. Fo
example, episodic/exempla -based models (see
Goldinge , 1998) assume ha indexical in o ma ion is
p ese ed and s o ed in memo y ep esen a ions along
wi h phone ical audi o y in o ma ion, which, in u n,
would acili a e speech pe cep ion (see Ma in e al.,
1989; Somme s e al., 1994). Consis en wi h his iew,
ecen esea ch has shown ha he oice o he speake is
inco po a ed in o memo y ep esen a ions along wi h o h-
e ypes o co-occu ences as backg ound sounds (Pu ahl
&Samuel,2014). Ac oss six expe imen s, Pu ahl and
Samuel (2014) showed ha he ecogni ion o a wo d is
a ec ed by he ambien sounds in which i has been p e-
iously expe ienced, in he same way ha he ecogni ion
o a sound is a ec ed by he wo ds wi h which i has
p e iously co-occu ed. They concluded ha he linguis ic
and non-linguis ic aspec s o he audi o y inpu a e no
au oma ically seg ega ed, bu s o ed oge he o o m he
episodic aces ha cons i u e he basic subs a e o he
men al lexicon. Acco dingly, one migh expec ha con-
ex ual a ia ions in indexical aspec s like he speake ’s
oice would also ha e a bene icial e ec on inciden al
ocabula y lea ning in na u al con ex s. Keep in mind ha
one o he key ac o s o impac ocabula y g ow h is he
o al language en i onmen (Ramí ez-Espa za e al., 2014).
In his line, s o y elling o book eading-aloud se ings a e
among he key d i ing ac o s o lexical g ow h in child-
hood (Elley, 1989; Ninio & B une , 1978; Robbins &
Eh i, 1994). In e es ingly, compa ed o he di ec eaching
o ocabula y, he inciden al lea ning o wo ds accoun s
o he as numbe o wo ds ha a e lea ned du ing
childhood and adolescence (see Biemille & Slonim,
2001; Na ion, 2006). Indeed, we may ind pedagogical
implica ions in he p esen s udy: as s ong ocabula y
skills ha e been linked o be e eading ou comes o e
ime (Dickinson & Tabo s, 2001;Ha &Risley,1995;
Sca bo ough, 2005), ou s udy may help unde s and he
ac o s ha aid ocabula y acquisi ion du ing inciden al
lea ning (i.e., con ex ual di e si y).
The main goal o ou s udy was o examine whe he an
encoding (non-seman ic) manipula ion o con ex ual di-
e si y could acili a e inciden al wo d lea ning in he
class oom –we chose G ade 3 s uden s o pa allel p e i-
ouswo k(seeRosae al.,2017). In he p esen expe i-
men , no el wo ds we e p esen ed in ca ie ables ha
we e u e ed ei he by he same o by di e en na a o s,
while keeping cons an he seman ic na u e o he con ex s
in which he no el wo ds we e p esen ed. Fo ecological
alidi y, he expe imen ook place a he child en’s
school du ing egula hou s.
Child en we e p esen ed wi h no el wo ds in he con-
ex o mul iple ables u e ed always by he same na a o
o by di e en na a o s (low- s. high-con ex ual di e -
si y). Wo ds assigned o he low-con ex ual di e si y con-
di ion we e inse ed in h ee ables u e ed by he same
na a o , while wo ds assigned o he high-di e si y con-
di ion we e inse ed in h ee ables u e ed by di e en
na a o s, while keeping cons an he o e all equency
o each new wo d (see Rosa e al., 2017, o a simila
s a egy wi h a seman ic manipula ion o con ex ual
di e si y wi h G ade 3 child en). To c ea e mo e salien
audi o y con ex s, he oice pi ch was e y di e en
ac oss na a o s (high s. medium s. low pi ch). The
e ec o con ex ual di e si y on inciden al wo d lea ning
was measu ed in wo o hog aphic and seman ic in eg a-
ion asks: (1) a mul iple-choice ask wi h lexical
dis ac o s,and(2)apic u e-wo dma ching ask.
Clea ly, i each oice c ea es a dis inc con ex when lea n-
ing new wo ds, we expec ha wo ds u e ed by di e en
oices (high-con ex ual di e si y wo ds) would be be e
lea ned han hose wo ds p onounced by he same oice
(low-con ex ual di e si y wo ds). This ou come would sup-
po he iew ha a iabili y o indexical in o ma ion, such
as oice pi ch, plays an impo an ole du ing wo d lea ning
(Goldinge , 1998; see Pu ahl & Samuel, 2014, o episodic
accoun s o wo d lea ning). In con as , a null e ec o
(audi o y) con ex ual di e si y in he p esen scena io would
sugges ha he con ex ual di e si y e ec on he lea ning o
new ocabula y is p ima ily seman ic in na u e (see Jones
e al., 2012).
Ma e ials and me hods
Pa icipan s
Nine y- wo hi d g ade child en om a subsidized p i a e
school in Valencia, Spain, pa icipa ed in he s udy. The a e -
age age was 8 yea s ( ange: 8–9 yea s). All pa icipan s (chil-
d en’s pa en s) p o ided w i en in o med consen be o e pa -
icipa ion in he expe imen . The expe imen al p ocedu es
we e app o ed by he Expe imen al Resea ch E hics
Commi ee o he Uni e si y o Valencia. Thi y-nine o he
ini ial 92 pa icipan s we e excluded om he inal sample due
o se e al easons: 12 o hem showed p e ious lea ning di -
icul ies (a en ion de ici diso de , lea ning disabili y, and au-
ism spec um diso de ), and 27 missed some o he expe i-
men al sessions. O he emaining 53 pa icipan s, 29 we e
boys.
280 Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
Ma e ials
The wo ds o be lea ned, e e ed o as expe imen al wo ds,
we e he same as in he Rosa e al. (2017) expe imen : 12
wo ds in Spanish (a e age leng h: 7.5 le e s, ange: 6–11),
o which 11 we e nouns and one was an adjec i e. These
wo ds did no occu in he LEXIN p ima y school lexical
da abase in Spanish (Co al e al., 2009) and had a e y low
equency o use (mean = 0.15, ange 0–0.9) in he EsPal
Spanish sub i le da abase ( he a e age was less han 0.2 pe
million) (Duchon e al., 2013). We also checked ha none o
hese wo ds we e known by child en o his age – his was
e i ied by p esen ing hese wo ds o a di e en sample o 53
child en.
F om hese expe imen al wo ds, we c ea ed wo
coun e balanced se s o ma e ials so ha each wo d appea ed
in he high- and he low-di e si y condi ion. Each se was
composed o a o al o nine sho ables. The ables we e equal
in leng h (155 wo ds each) and eadabili y indexes (e.g.,
Flesch-Szig isz [IFZS] eadabili y index, Ba io, 2015)
anged be ween no mal and e y easy (Median = 72). The
eache s in cha ge o he child en a es assessed ha he
ables we e app op ia e o hei g ade le el.
In all he ex s, we p o ided seman ic clues, nex o each
expe imen al wo d, so ha he pa icipan s could in e hei
meaning, wi hou p o iding an explici desc ip ion. The ex s
we e manipula ed o be simila ly in o ma i e abou expe i-
men al wo d meaning, i.e., he numbe o seman ic clues
emained cons an in all ex s o each o he expe imen al
wo ds. Appendix Ashows an example o he h ee comple e
ex s in which he wo d “ o age”was inse ed.
E e y ex included ou di e en expe imen al wo ds
(while keeping gende , numbe , and meaning s able) and
we e eco ded in audio by h ee di e en oices (high,
medium, and low oice pi ch).
1
The eco dings we e
edi ed wi h Audaci y so wa e ( e sion 2.3.0; Audaci y
Team, 2018) and had he same olume and simila du a-
ions (be ween 58 and 66 s). Assignmen o he pe cep ual
a iabili y was ully coun e balanced by i ems. This is, in
Se A, wo ds 1–6 belonged o he high-di e si y condi ion
(i.e., h ee di e en oices), while wo ds 7–12 belonged
o he low-di e si y condi ion (i.e., always he same
oice). The opposi e dis ibu ion was used o c ea e Se
2 (i.e., wo ds 1–6 belonged o he low-di e si y condi ion
and wo ds 7–12 belonged o he high-di e si y condi ion).
Pe cep ual a iabili y was manipula ed wi hin-subjec so
ha all pa icipan s lis ened o hal o he ables by one
na a o and he o he hal by h ee di e en na a o s.
The dis ibu ion o he expe imen al wo ds (and hei
equi alen s in English) in se A and B a e p esen ed in
Appendix Band Appendix C, espec i ely. To gua an ee
ha he pa icipan s paid a en ion o he audios, pa ici-
pan s we e p esen ed wi h wo mul iple-choice comp e-
hension ques ions a e each able.
Open p ac ice s a emen : The expe imen al ma e ials and
da a a e openly a ailable a h ps://os .io/2uxjw/? iew_only=
aa23c 9 dca54e7aa958ceab33b75215.
P ocedu e
Bo h he aining and he e alua ion phase we e ca ied ou in
g oups in he school’s compu e class oom du ing he egula
school hou s. Be o e s a ing he aining phase, all pa ici-
pan s we e andomly assigned o one o he wo expe imen al
se s. Pa icipan s we e sea ed indi idually on each compu e ,
and hey ecei ed ask ins uc ions om he expe imen e as
well as isually on he sc een.
To maximize he lea ning p ocess, he aining phase was
dis ibu ed o e h ee consecu i e days. In each o hese 3
days, he s uden s lis ened o h ee ables ha we e ead by a
high, medium, o low oice pi ch na a o . As shown in
Appendix Band Appendix C, each able ca ied ou expe i-
men al wo ds. In o de o con ol he o e all equency o each
new wo d, e e y expe imen al se was p esen ed h ee imes in
i s co esponding expe imen al condi ion (high o low con ex-
ual di e si y), depending on he coun e balance se . This
s a egy was based on a p e ious s udy by Rosa e al. (2017)
in which con ex ual di e si y e ec s we e ob ained wi h only
h ee epe i ions o he expe imen al wo ds. In ha expe imen
he ex s we e isually exposed, and he con ex ual di e si y
was seman ically manipula ed. A e lis ening o each able,
s uden s had o espond o wo h ee-al e na i e o ced-choice
comp ehension ques ions, which we e p esen ed in bo h isu-
al and audi o y modali ies.
The assessmen session ook place on he ou h day. We
employed wo asks: a mul iple-choice ask and a pic u e-
wo d ma ching ask. We employed hese wo asks o assess
he ecall and ecogni ion o new wo ds’seman ic and wo d-
o m in eg a ion. On he one hand, he mul iple-choice ask
mainly assessed ecogni ion memo y o bo h aspec s.
Pa icipan s had o ead a sen ence and p edic he las wo d
(no el-wo d), which was missing, among ou al e na i es
( he co ec wo d, wo o hog aphic dis ac o s, and a phono-
logical dis ac o ). The inclusion o hese dis ac o s allowed
measu emen o whe he he o m o he no el-wo d had been
1
In esponse o one sugges ion om a Re iewe , we did no include pi ch as a
quan i a i e p edic o because ou hypo hesis was no aimed a e i ying
whe he pi ch p oduced di e ences in e ms o wo d lea ning. We acknowl-
edge ha his obse a ion opens he doo o u u e esea ch on whe he he
na a o ’s pi ch a ec s lea ning no el wo ds.
281Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
well es ablished. On he o he hand, he pic u e-wo d
ma ching ask equi ed bo h ecall and ecogni ion o he no -
el-wo ds’meaning, as he wo ds we e no p esen ed in he
w i en modali y. These asks we e designed and egis e ed
using OpenSesame (Ve sion 3.2.8; Ma hô e al., 2012). The
o de o assessmen was he same o high-con ex ual and
low-con ex ual di e si y condi ions. The mul iple-choice ask
was un i s , ollowed by he pic u e-wo d ma ching ask –
he e was a 5-min b eak be ween hem.
Mul iple-choice ask This ask was equi alen o ha used by
Rosa e al. (2017) and comp ised 12 incomple e sen ences
p esen ed isually on display whe e he las wo d was miss-
ing. Each sen ence was ollowed by ou -al e na i e o ced-
choice op ions, only one o which ( he expe imen al wo d)
was adequa e o inish he sen ence. The oils we e cons uc -
ed so ha wo o hem di e ed only by one le e om he
expe imen al wo d, and he hi d was o hog aphically di e -
en bu phonologically simila o he expe imen al wo d. The
p esen a ion o de o he i ems was andomized, and he pa -
icipan s we e aimed o click on he co ec answe wi h no
ime limi . This e alua ion ask is p esen ed in Appendix D.
2
Pic u e-wo d ma ching ask In his ask, a 4 × 4 ma ix com-
posed o 16 images (which ep esen ed he e e en s o he 12
expe imen al wo ds plus ou ille s) was p esen ed on he
compu e sc een along wi h he audio o one expe imen al
wo d. Pa icipan s we e equi ed o selec he image ha
ma ched he audio. Each o he 12 ials s a ed wi h he p e-
sen a ion o a ixa ion signal (+) o 500 ms, immedia ely
ollowed by he image ma ix and he eco ded audio o one
expe imen al wo d. All he images emained on he sc een
un il he pa icipan ’s esponse. Pa icipan s had one a emp
o each s imulus –wi h no ime limi –and he e was no
eedback a e esponse. The p esen a ion o de o he ials
was andomized. An example sc een display is illus a ed in
Appendix E.
Analysis and esul s
The o e all a e age pe cen age o co ec answe s o he
h ee-choice comp ehension ques ions a e each able ac oss
he h ee aining days was 76% (33.3% would be chance),
hus indica ing ha pa icipan s lis ened mind ully o he a-
bles. Pa icipan s’comp ehension sco es we e simila ac oss
he 3 days (74.2, 76.7, and 76.4%, espec i ely, p = .771).
Table 1shows he desc ip i e s a is ics (mean and s anda d
de ia ion) o each o he asks. Fo he in e en ial analyses,
we employed gene alized linea mixed-e ec s models in R (R
Co e Team, 2021) using lme4 (Ba es e al., 2015). The ixed
ac o was Con ex ual Di e si y (high di e si y s. low di e -
si y). Fo each dependen a iable, we employed he maximal
andom e ec s uc u e model ha success ully con e ged –
hese we e Dependen _Va iable ~ CD + (1 | subjec ) + (1 |
i em). As he dependen a iable was bina y (1 = co ec ; 0 =
inco ec ), i was modeled wi h he binomial dis ibu ion (i.e.,
amily = binomial).
Pic u e-wo d ma ching ask Accu acy a es we e signi ican ly
highe o he no el wo ds when u e ed by se e al na a o s
han when u e ed by only one na a o , b=-0.5023,SE =
0.1725, z= -2.912, 95% CI (-0.844, -0.165), p= 0.0036; o
he in e es ed eade , he pa allel ANOVA also showed a a-
cili a i e e ec o con ex ual di e si y, F1(1,51) = 4.19, η
2
=
.076, p=.046.
3
Mul iple-choice ask This ask e ealed highe accu acy o
he no el wo ds when u e ed by se e al na a o s han when
u e ed by only one na a o (see Table 1), al hough he e ec
was sligh ly below he adi ional c i e ion o signi icance, b
=-0.4173,SE =0.2172,z= -1.921, 95% CI (-0.862, 0.0161),
p= 0.0547; no e ha he ANOVA also e ealed an e ec o
con ex ual di e si y, F1(1,51) = 10.82, η
2
=0.175,p=.002.
2
We decided o p esen his es in w i en modali y since i would ha e been
di icul o emembe he h ee op ions i hey had been p esen ed in an au al
way. The change o modali y wi h espec o he exposu e phase should no be
a con ounding ac o gi en ha Spanish has a anspa en sound-spelling sys-
em, and ha 8- yea -s old child en ha e al eady lea ned sound-spelling co -
espondences. No wi hs anding, as sugges ed by a Re iewe , he asymme y
on in o ma ion ans e om isual- o-audi o y a he han om audi o y- o-
isual may pa ly explain he low hi a es a es in he p esen s udy. This is
some hing o ake in o accoun in u he esea ch.
Table 1 Desc ip i e s a is ics o each o he dependen a iables in he expe imen (mean hi a io wi h s anda d e o s in pa en heses)
Pic u e-wo d ma ching ask Mul iple-choice ask
Con ex ual Di e si y High 0.211 (0.22) 0.547 (0.25)
Low 0.160 (0.16) 0.434 (0.23)
3
Lis was included in he ANOVAs o educe he e o a iance due o he
coun e balanced lis s (Polla sek & Well, 1995)
282 Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
Discussion
In he p esen expe imen , we in es iga ed whe he con-
ex ual di e si y –ope a ionalized in e ms o na a o
di e si y –had a acili a i e e ec in he inciden al acqui-
si ion o no el wo ds by G ade 3 child en (a ound 8 yea s
old) in he class oom. Resul s om he wo asks (i.e.,
mul iple-choice and pic u e-wo d ma ching) showed ha
no el wo ds p esen ed in ables u e ed by di e en na -
a o s (high-con ex ual di e si y) we e lea ned be e han
no el wo ds p esen ed in ables u e ed by he same na -
a o (low-con ex ual di e si y).
Ou indings highligh he bene icial e ec o con ex-
ual di e si y in wo d lea ning, in line wi h p io expe i-
men s (Jones e al., 2012, Johns e al., 2016; Pagán &
Na ion, 2019;Rosae al.,2017). The abo e-ci ed s udies
add essed he ema kable impac o con ex ual di e si y in
he consolida ion o wo d lea ning in e ms o seman ic
a iabili y. Those indings we e cap u ed by he SDM
model, a dis ibu ional model o seman ic memo y whe e
he encoding s eng h o a wo d in a gi en con ex de-
pends on he seman ic con en o e lap be ween he cu -
en con ex and he ep esen a ion o ha wo d in mem-
o y: he la ge he o e lap, he weake he wo d is
encoded. Ou s is he i s s udy o add ess whe he he
impac o con ex ual di e si y on inciden al wo d lea ning
ex ends beyond seman ics by manipula ing di e si y a a
pe cep ual a he han a a seman ic le el. Speci ically, we
manipula ed he pe cep ual a iabili y ( he numbe o di -
e en na a o s), whe eas he seman ic con ex in which
wo ds appea ed was p ese ed ac oss he high- and low-
con ex ual di e si y manipula ion. The ad an age o pe -
cep ual a iabili y in wo d lea ning, as ob ained in he
p esen expe imen , sugges s ha a ia ing he pe cep ual
ea u es o he lea ning con ex alone also has an impac
on inciden al wo d lea ning, hus ein o cing he impo -
ance o he codi ica ion and s o age o indexical aspec s
on he o ma ion o lexical ep esen a ions (Goldinge ,
1998; Goldinge e al., 1991).
4
The e o e, while seman ics undoub edly play a unda-
men al ole in he e ec o con ex ual di e si y du ing
wo d acquisi ion –as shown by Johns e al. (2016)–
o he modula ing componen s such as pe cep ual
dis inc i eness also need o be inco po a ed in any heo-
e ical model ha aims o explain he mechanisms unde -
lying he lea ning o new wo ds. Speci ically, ou indings
p o ide empi ical suppo o episodic heo ies ha sugges
ha audi o y-pe cep ual de ails a e s o ed in memo y du -
ingwo dlea ning(e.g.,Goldinge ,1998), as well as hose
models ha ea lexical ep esen a ions as a p ope subse
o audi o y memo y ep esen a ions (Pu ahl & Samuel,
2014). In his line, no e ha he e ie al o a speci ic
elemen is mo e likely when i is in ol ed in a ich ne -
wo k han when i is encoded in isola ion (Ande son &
Bowe , 1972; C aik & Tul ing, 1975; Tul ing &
Thomson, 1973). Acco dingly, changes in he pe cep ual
ins an ia ion o he same s imulus (i.e., di e en encoun-
e s o he same wo d) may lead o a iche episodic ep-
esen a ion which, in u n, inc eases he likelihood o e-
ie ing in o ma ion abou he expe ienced s imuli in
memo y. Indeed, memo y esea che s ha e long acknowl-
edged ha i is no he numbe o epea ed exposu es o an
i em ha a ec s e ie al, bu a he he dis inc ion o
hese exposu es in ime and con ex (e.g., see Glenbe g,
1976,1979). Unde he p emise ha pe cep ual dis inc-
i eness c ea es a new con ex , he mo e con ex s in which
an i em occu s, he mo e likely i is ha he i em will be
needed in a new con ex (i.e., “p inciple o likely need”;
see Ande son & Milson, 1989). Addi ionally, and acco d-
ing o he episodic based models, ou indings indica e
ha wo ds can be inciden ally lea ned (spelling, seman-
ics, and phonology) h ough eading, and ha his lea n-
ing is mo e e ec i e i he e a e con ex ual a ia ions
be ween he di e en expe iences (episodes) wi h he
wo d (Nelson e al., 2005). Howe e , he inpu model
may modula e he s eng h and quali y o he memo y
aces (Pe e i, 1997). Indeed, isual in o ma ion may en-
ail mo e accessible memo y aces han audi o y in o ma-
ion (Dean e al., 1988; Gallo e al., 2001). This ac could
explain he low hi a e in ou expe imen compa ed wi h
ha o Rosa e al. (2017), in which he wo ds we e p e-
sen ed isually du ing he aining phase.
As poin ed ou by one e iewe , he acili a i e ind-
ings o con ex ual di e si y epo ed he e migh appea a
odds wi h p e ious indings om Johns e al. (2016),
whe e he same no el wo ds ha showed a p ocessing
ad an age in ecogni ion asks ( ia memo y s eng h in
he SDM) also showed a p ocessing disad an age in se-
man ic judgmen asks ( ia simila i y ec o s). This las
inding was assessed by a seman ic simila i y judgmen
4
In he p esen expe imen , we did no assess he ole o hechild en’s eading
abili y. We acknowledge ha u u e s udies should also conside whe he his
ac o modula es con ex ual di e si y bene i s.
283Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
ask (e.g., no el wo ds s. associa es o he a ge mean-
ing), showing ha wo ds lea ned in seman ically edun-
dan con ex s led o mo e disc iminable ep esen a ions
(i.e., close o hei a ge meaning) han hose lea ned in
seman ically di e se con ex s. Johns e al. (2016)conclud-
ed ha ecen ly acqui ed meanings we e easie o disam-
bigua e when lea ned ac oss seman ically simila han se-
man ically di e se con ex s. While i would ha e been
in o ma i e o ha e collec ed seman ic simila i y o he
no el wo ds in he p esen s udy, we did no include his
ask in he design because we had no a p io i p edic ions
on why he disc iminabili y o seman ic ep esen a ions
would be shaped by pe cep ual di e si y alone. Ins ead,
we chose o he asks (e.g., mul iple-choice ask, pic u e-
ma ching ask) ha e lec ecogni ion and ecollec ion
aspec s o wo d lea ning. As such, hese wo asks may
be in e p e ed as e lec ing he componen o memo y
s eng h in he SDM –no e ha , o his componen , he
model p edic s a acili a i e e ec o mul iple con ex s o
no el wo ds.
Dis ibu ional models o seman ic ep esen a ions, such as
he SDM, posi a o mal cogni i e mechanism o lea n seman-
ics om epea ed episodic expe ience in a linguis ic con ex
(see Jones e al., 2015, o e iew). In his amewo k, mul iple
p esen a ions o a wo d a e e ec i e as long as he e is a sub le
change in he con ex . While he SDM ocuses on he seman ic
a iabili y ac oss con ex s in o de o explain he bene i s o
con ex ual di e si y on meaning acquisi ion ( ia dis ibu ional
changes in seman ics ha allow in e ence o he wo d’smean-
ing), ou indings showed ha he changes in con ex o he
han seman ics also play a ole in wo d lea ning. In ac , sub le
changes in aspec s o con ex ha a e un ela ed o meaning
disambigua ion (e.g., pe cep ual ac o s) seem enough o aid
he consolida ion o a new wo d’s meaning. The e o e, dis i-
bu ional models o seman ic ep esen a ions should emb ace
ex ended no ions o “con ex .”In o he wo ds, he cogni i e
mechanisms ha a e posed o lea n seman ics om epea ed
episodic expe iences migh no only conside linguis ic ac o s
(e.g., seman ics), bu also indexical ac o s such as acous ic
a iabili y.
Wha a e he implica ions o he p esen esul s om a
pedagogical pe spec i e? He e we ha e add essed one o he
ac o s ha aid ocabula y acquisi ion in inciden al lea ning
(i.e., con ex ual di e si y). The me analysis by Wasik e al.
(2016) e ealed ha di ec explici ocabula y ins uc ion
p o ed o be mo e e icien in he lea ning o new wo ds
compa ed o inciden al ins uc ion o new ocabula y.
Howe e , his con as s wi h o he e iews ha ha e aken
in o accoun he e iciency o ins uc ion (numbe o wo ds
lea ned di ided by ins uc ional ime), along wi h he easibil-
i y and wo h o p o iding di ec ocabula y ins uc ion,
which e ealed ha simply lis ening o a s o y was mo e e i-
cien o ocabula y acquisi ion han eading plus ex ended
ins uc ion (McQuillan, 2019a,2019b; see also Mason e al.,
2008;Nagye al.,1985). While ou s udy was no designed o
asse which o he wo app oaches is mo e e ec i e in o-
cabula y ins uc ion (see W igh & Ce e i, 2017, o a ecen
e iew), wha is clea om ou expe imen is ha inciden al
lea ning o ocabula y may bene i om a (pe cep ual) con-
ex ual di e si y manipula ion in he class oom. Speci ically,
we showed ha he lea ning o no el wo ds when u e ed by
se e al na a o s was mo e e icien han when u e ed by a
single na a o in a school class scena io, a esul ha can se e
as he basis o be e ools o imp o e ocabula y lea ning.
These indings migh in o m eache s’and in e en ionis s’
decisions on how o op imize ocabula y acquisi ion du ing
class oom con ex while dealing wi h ime e iciency.
The e o e, eache s migh in oduce pedagogical inno a ions
in he lea ning o unknown e ms by exploi ing he bene i s o
con ex ual di e si y (i.e., changing he way ha new wo ds a e
in oduced in he class oom). These may include dis ibu ing
no el wo ds ac oss di e en eache s o he same s uden
audience and using c oss-cu icula lea ning. We also belie e
ha , besides i s heo e ical implica ions, he p esen expe i-
men may also ha e p ac ical applica ions in di e en popula-
ions and lea ning en i onmen s. Fo example, in line wi h he
Highly Va iable Phone ic T aining (HVPT), audi o y a iabil-
i y can be used in speech he apy sessions o bene i child en
wi h di icul ies in he pe cep ion and p onuncia ion o wo ds
(Plan e e al., 2014). Likewise, audi o y di e si y can also
op imize he consolida ion o seman ic and phonological ele-
men s o second language lea ning (see Ba iuso & Hayes-
Ha b, 2018; F ances e al., 2020, o ecen e idence).
In sum, we ha e demons a ed ha he ad an ages o
con ex ual di e si y on inciden al wo d lea ning do no
es exclusi ely on seman ic di e ences among con ex s
whe e wo ds a e encoun e ed, bu also on pe cep ual di -
e ences among con ex s (indexical in o ma ion), con ib-
u ing o long- e m episodic memo y consolida ion. To
be e unde s and he ole o pe cep ual aspec s in he
con ex ual di e si y e ec , u u e s udies should e alua e
he e icacy o inciden al ocabula y lea ning by manipu-
la ing pe cep ual di e si y in di e en ways.
284 Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
Appendix A
Example in Spanish and English o h ee ex s (low, medium,
and high pi ch) in which he a ge wo d o aje ( he Spanish
o o age) was inse ed, and he co esponding eading com-
p ehension ques ions.
285Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
286 Mem Cogn (2022) 50:278–295
Appendix E
Sc een display o he Pic u e-wo d ma ching ask.
Funding Open Access unding p o ided hanks o he CRUE-CSIC
ag eemen wi h Sp inge Na u e. Spanish Minis y o Science,
Inno a ion, and Uni e si ies: PSI2017-86210-P.
Open Access This a icle is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional License, which pe mi s use, sha ing, adap-
a ion, dis ibu ion and ep oduc ion in any medium o o ma , as long as
you gi e app op ia e c edi o he o iginal au ho (s) and he sou ce, p o-
ide a link o he C ea i e Commons licence, and indica e i changes we e
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