Francesca Peressotti
Professor
Telephone: 0498276582
Via Venezia 8 – Room 02.019
francesca.peressotti@unipd.it
Via Venezia 8 – Room 02.019
francesca.peressotti@unipd.it
Research Areas
Language system; Language and cognition interactions
Specific research interests:
- Language and biligualism
- Multilingualism and dialects
- Predictive processing in language comprehension
- Speech processing in deaf people with cochlear implant
- Sign languages and deafness
- The role of attention and control in language processing
Active research grants:
“The role of cochlear implantation and bimodal bilingualism in early deafness: a window into the neurofunctional mechanisms of human language” PRIN Research Grant (prot. 20177894ZH)
Selected Publications
Sorry, no publications matched your criteria.
Publications
2020
Ceccarini, Francesco; Guerra, Silvia; Peressotti, Alessandro; Peressotti, Francesca; Bulgheroni, Maria; Baccinelli, Walter; Bonato, Bianca; Castiello, Umberto
On-line control of movement in plants Journal Article
In: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2020.
@article{ceccarini2020line,
title = {On-line control of movement in plants},
author = { Francesco Ceccarini and Silvia Guerra and Alessandro Peressotti and Francesca Peressotti and Maria Bulgheroni and Walter Baccinelli and Bianca Bonato and Umberto Castiello},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications},
publisher = {Elsevier},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2019
Arcara, Giorgio; Franzon, Francesca; Gastaldon, Simone; Brotto, Silvia; Semenza, Carlo; Peressotti, Francesca; Zanini, Chiara
One can be some but some cannot be one: ERP correlates of numerosity incongruence are different for singular and plural Journal Article
In: Cortex, vol. 116, pp. 104-121, 2019.
@article{Arcara2018,
title = {One can be some but some cannot be one: ERP correlates of numerosity incongruence are different for singular and plural},
author = {Giorgio Arcara and Francesca Franzon and Simone Gastaldon and Silvia Brotto and Carlo Semenza and Francesca Peressotti and Chiara Zanini},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.10.022},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-07-00},
journal = {Cortex},
volume = {116},
pages = {104-121},
abstract = {Humans can communicate information on numerosity by means of number words (e.g. one hundred, a couple), but also through Number morphology (e.g. through the singular vs. the plural forms of a noun). Agreement violations involving Number morphology (e.g. *one apples) are well known to elicit specific ERP components such as the Left Anterior Negativity (LAN); yet, the relationship between a morphological Number value (e.g. singular vs. plural) and its referential numerosity has been scantly considered in the literature. Moreover, even if agreement violations have been proved very useful, they do not typically characterise the everyday language usage, thus narrowing the scope of the results. In this study we investigated Number morphology from a different perspective, by focusing on the ERP correlates of congruence and incongruence between a depicted numerosity and noun phrases. To this aim we designed a picture–phrase matching paradigm in Italian. In each trial, a picture depicting one or four objects was followed by a grammatically well-formed phrase made up of a quantifier and a content noun inflected either in the singular or in the plural. When analysing ERP time-locked to the content noun, plural phrases after pictures presenting one object elicited a larger negativity, similar to a LAN effect. No significant congruence effect was found in the case of the phrases whose morphological Number value conveyed a numerosity of one. Our results suggest that 1) incongruence elicits a negativity (LAN-like) independently from the grammaticality of the utterances and irrespective the P600 component; 2) the reference to a numerosity can be partially encoded in an incremental way when processing Number morphology; and, most importantly, 3) the processing of the morphological Number value of plural is different from that of singular as the former shows a narrower interpretability than the latter.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Humans can communicate information on numerosity by means of number words (e.g. one hundred, a couple), but also through Number morphology (e.g. through the singular vs. the plural forms of a noun). Agreement violations involving Number morphology (e.g. *one apples) are well known to elicit specific ERP components such as the Left Anterior Negativity (LAN); yet, the relationship between a morphological Number value (e.g. singular vs. plural) and its referential numerosity has been scantly considered in the literature. Moreover, even if agreement violations have been proved very useful, they do not typically characterise the everyday language usage, thus narrowing the scope of the results. In this study we investigated Number morphology from a different perspective, by focusing on the ERP correlates of congruence and incongruence between a depicted numerosity and noun phrases. To this aim we designed a picture–phrase matching paradigm in Italian. In each trial, a picture depicting one or four objects was followed by a grammatically well-formed phrase made up of a quantifier and a content noun inflected either in the singular or in the plural. When analysing ERP time-locked to the content noun, plural phrases after pictures presenting one object elicited a larger negativity, similar to a LAN effect. No significant congruence effect was found in the case of the phrases whose morphological Number value conveyed a numerosity of one. Our results suggest that 1) incongruence elicits a negativity (LAN-like) independently from the grammaticality of the utterances and irrespective the P600 component; 2) the reference to a numerosity can be partially encoded in an incremental way when processing Number morphology; and, most importantly, 3) the processing of the morphological Number value of plural is different from that of singular as the former shows a narrower interpretability than the latter.
Colombo, Lucia; Sulpizio, Simone; Peressotti, Francesca
The developmental trend of transposed letters effects in masked priming Journal Article
In: Journal of experimental child psychology, vol. 186, pp. 117–130, 2019.
@article{colombo2019developmental,
title = {The developmental trend of transposed letters effects in masked priming},
author = { Lucia Colombo and Simone Sulpizio and Francesca Peressotti},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.05.007},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Journal of experimental child psychology},
volume = {186},
pages = {117--130},
publisher = {Elsevier},
abstract = {In the current study, we investigated the development of transposed letter (TL) priming effects with masked priming. Recent studies have reported different and contrasting results concerning the age at which TL priming effects first appear and whether they tend to decline or increase with age. One of the aims of this study was to investigate the developmental trend of orthographic mechanisms underlying the TL effects in Italian. We tested three groups of children (second, third, and fifth graders) and a group of adults with a sandwich masked priming procedure, presenting lists of target words preceded by TL or replaced letter (RL) primes. TLs and RLs were either at the beginning (second–third letters) or the end (fourth–sixth letters) of primes in order to see whether the TL priming effect varied according to position in the letter string. We found that TL priming effects increased with age in both accuracy and latency. No effect of position was found. The results are discussed in light of a possible difference in the development of orthographic mechanisms depending on the transparency of the language.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In the current study, we investigated the development of transposed letter (TL) priming effects with masked priming. Recent studies have reported different and contrasting results concerning the age at which TL priming effects first appear and whether they tend to decline or increase with age. One of the aims of this study was to investigate the developmental trend of orthographic mechanisms underlying the TL effects in Italian. We tested three groups of children (second, third, and fifth graders) and a group of adults with a sandwich masked priming procedure, presenting lists of target words preceded by TL or replaced letter (RL) primes. TLs and RLs were either at the beginning (second–third letters) or the end (fourth–sixth letters) of primes in order to see whether the TL priming effect varied according to position in the letter string. We found that TL priming effects increased with age in both accuracy and latency. No effect of position was found. The results are discussed in light of a possible difference in the development of orthographic mechanisms depending on the transparency of the language.
Pretato, Elena; Peressotti, Francesca; Navarrete, Eduardo
Giudizi di iconicit`a per 234 segni della Lingua dei Segni Italiana Journal Article
In: Giornale italiano di psicologia, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 685–708, 2019.
@article{pretato2019giudizi,
title = {Giudizi di iconicit`a per 234 segni della Lingua dei Segni Italiana},
author = { Elena Pretato and Francesca Peressotti and Eduardo Navarrete},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Giornale italiano di psicologia},
volume = {46},
number = {3},
pages = {685--708},
publisher = {Societ`a editrice il Mulino},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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Guerra, Silvia; Peressotti, Alessandro; Peressotti, Francesca; Bulgheroni, Maria; Baccinelli, Walter; D’Amico, Enrico; Gomez, Alejandra; Massaccesi, Stefano; Ceccarini, Francesco; Castiello, Umberto
Flexible control of movement in plants Journal Article
In: Scientific reports, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–9, 2019.
@article{guerra2019flexible,
title = {Flexible control of movement in plants},
author = { Silvia Guerra and Alessandro Peressotti and Francesca Peressotti and Maria Bulgheroni and Walter Baccinelli and Enrico D’Amico and Alejandra Gomez and Stefano Massaccesi and Francesco Ceccarini and Umberto Castiello},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {9},
number = {1},
pages = {1--9},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
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pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
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2018
Francesca Peressotti Anna Lorenzoni, Eduardo Navarrete
The Manipulability Effect in Object Naming Journal Article
In: Journal of Cognition, vol. 1, no. 30, 2018.
@article{Lorenzoni_JCogn_2018b,
title = {The Manipulability Effect in Object Naming},
author = {Anna Lorenzoni, Francesca Peressotti, Eduardo Navarrete},
url = {https://www.journalofcognition.org/articles/10.5334/joc.30/},
doi = {http://doi.org/10.5334/joc.30},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-05-25},
journal = {Journal of Cognition},
volume = {1},
number = {30},
abstract = {Seeing objects triggers activation of motor areas. The implications of this motor activation in tasks that do not require object-use is still a matter of debate in cognitive sciences. Here we test whether motor activation percolates into the linguistic system by exploring the effect of object manipulability in a speech production task. Italian native speakers name the set of photographs provided by Guérard, Lagacè and Brodeur (Beh Res Meth, 2015). Photographs varied on four motor dimensions concerning on how easily the represented objects can be grasped, moved, or pantomimed, and the number of actions that can be performed with them. The results show classical psycholinguistic phenomena such as the effect of age of acquisition and name agreement in naming latencies. Critically, linear mixed-effects models show an effect of three motor predictors over and above the psycholinguistic effects (replicating, in part, previous findings, Guérard et al., 2015). Further research is needed to address how, and at which level, the manipulability effect emerges in the course of word production.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Seeing objects triggers activation of motor areas. The implications of this motor activation in tasks that do not require object-use is still a matter of debate in cognitive sciences. Here we test whether motor activation percolates into the linguistic system by exploring the effect of object manipulability in a speech production task. Italian native speakers name the set of photographs provided by Guérard, Lagacè and Brodeur (Beh Res Meth, 2015). Photographs varied on four motor dimensions concerning on how easily the represented objects can be grasped, moved, or pantomimed, and the number of actions that can be performed with them. The results show classical psycholinguistic phenomena such as the effect of age of acquisition and name agreement in naming latencies. Critically, linear mixed-effects models show an effect of three motor predictors over and above the psycholinguistic effects (replicating, in part, previous findings, Guérard et al., 2015). Further research is needed to address how, and at which level, the manipulability effect emerges in the course of word production.
Peressotti, Francesca; Scaltritti, Michele; Miozzo, Michele
Can sign language make you better at hand processing? Journal Article
In: PloS one, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. e0194771, 2018.
@article{peressotti2018can,
title = {Can sign language make you better at hand processing?},
author = { Francesca Peressotti and Michele Scaltritti and Michele Miozzo},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194771},
doi = { https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194771},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {PloS one},
volume = {13},
number = {3},
pages = {e0194771},
publisher = {Public Library of Science},
abstract = {The languages developed by deaf communities are unique for using visual signs produced by the hand. In the present study, we explored the cognitive effects of employing the hand as articulator. We focused on the arbitrariness of the form-meaning relationship—a fundamental feature of natural languages—and asked whether sign languages change the processing of arbitrary non-linguistic stimulus-response (S-R) associations involving the hand. This was tested using the Simon effect, which specifically requires such type of associations. Differences between signers and speakers (non-signers) only appeared in the Simon task when hand stimuli were shown. Response-time analyses revealed that the distinctiveness of signers’ responses derived from an increased ability to process memory traces of arbitrary S-R pairs related to the hand. These results shed light on the interplay between language and cognition as well as on the effects of sign language acquisition.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The languages developed by deaf communities are unique for using visual signs produced by the hand. In the present study, we explored the cognitive effects of employing the hand as articulator. We focused on the arbitrariness of the form-meaning relationship—a fundamental feature of natural languages—and asked whether sign languages change the processing of arbitrary non-linguistic stimulus-response (S-R) associations involving the hand. This was tested using the Simon effect, which specifically requires such type of associations. Differences between signers and speakers (non-signers) only appeared in the Simon task when hand stimuli were shown. Response-time analyses revealed that the distinctiveness of signers’ responses derived from an increased ability to process memory traces of arbitrary S-R pairs related to the hand. These results shed light on the interplay between language and cognition as well as on the effects of sign language acquisition.
Pretato, Elena; Peressotti, Francesca; Bertone, Carmela; Navarrete, Eduardo
The iconicity advantage in sign production: The case of bimodal bilinguals Journal Article
In: Second Language Research, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 449–462, 2018.
@article{pretato2018iconicity,
title = {The iconicity advantage in sign production: The case of bimodal bilinguals},
author = { Elena Pretato and Francesca Peressotti and Carmela Bertone and Eduardo Navarrete},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658317744009},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Second Language Research},
volume = {34},
number = {4},
pages = {449--462},
publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England},
abstract = {Recent evidence demonstrates that pictures corresponding to iconic signs are named faster than pictures corresponding to non-iconic signs. The present study investigates the locus of the iconicity advantage in hearing bimodal bilinguals. A naming experiment with iconic and non-iconic pictures in Italian Sign Language (LIS) was conducted. Bimodal bilinguals named the pictures either using a noun construction that involved the production of the sign corresponding to the picture or using a marked demonstrative pronoun construction replacing the picture sign. In this last condition, the pictures were colored and participants were instructed to name the pronoun together with the color. The iconicity advantage was reliable in the noun utterance but not in the marked demonstrative pronoun utterance. In a third condition, the colored pictures were presented as distractor stimuli and participants required to name the color. In this last condition, distractor pictures with iconic signs elicited faster naming latencies than non-iconic signs. The results suggest that the advantage of iconic signs in production arises at the level of semantic-to-phonological links. In addition, we conclude that bimodal bilinguals and native signers do not differ in terms of the activation flow within the sign production system.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Recent evidence demonstrates that pictures corresponding to iconic signs are named faster than pictures corresponding to non-iconic signs. The present study investigates the locus of the iconicity advantage in hearing bimodal bilinguals. A naming experiment with iconic and non-iconic pictures in Italian Sign Language (LIS) was conducted. Bimodal bilinguals named the pictures either using a noun construction that involved the production of the sign corresponding to the picture or using a marked demonstrative pronoun construction replacing the picture sign. In this last condition, the pictures were colored and participants were instructed to name the pronoun together with the color. The iconicity advantage was reliable in the noun utterance but not in the marked demonstrative pronoun utterance. In a third condition, the colored pictures were presented as distractor stimuli and participants required to name the color. In this last condition, distractor pictures with iconic signs elicited faster naming latencies than non-iconic signs. The results suggest that the advantage of iconic signs in production arises at the level of semantic-to-phonological links. In addition, we conclude that bimodal bilinguals and native signers do not differ in terms of the activation flow within the sign production system.
Petrova, Anna; Navarrete, Eduardo; Suitner, Caterina; Sulpizio, Simone; Reynolds, Michael; Job, Remo; Peressotti, Francesca
Spatial congruency effects exist, just not for words: looking into estes, Verges, and Barsalou (2008) Journal Article
In: Psychological science, vol. 29, no. 7, pp. 1195–1199, 2018.
@article{petrova2018spatial,
title = {Spatial congruency effects exist, just not for words: looking into estes, Verges, and Barsalou (2008)},
author = { Anna Petrova and Eduardo Navarrete and Caterina Suitner and Simone Sulpizio and Michael Reynolds and Remo Job and Francesca Peressotti},
doi = {doi: 10.1177/0956797617728127},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Psychological science},
volume = {29},
number = {7},
pages = {1195--1199},
publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA},
abstract = {Estes, Verges, and Barsalou (2008) reported that reading a word with a spatial connotation (e.g., sky) interfered with the subsequent identification of an unrelated visual stimulus (letter X or O) presented in a semantically related portion of the screen (location-cue congruency, or LCC, effect). In a series of nine experiments, we attempted to obtain this effect but met with no success. Rather, we obtained other expected spatial and semantic effects highlighting the robustness of our procedures. We contend that the LCC effect needs to be taken with great caution.},
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pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
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Estes, Verges, and Barsalou (2008) reported that reading a word with a spatial connotation (e.g., sky) interfered with the subsequent identification of an unrelated visual stimulus (letter X or O) presented in a semantically related portion of the screen (location-cue congruency, or LCC, effect). In a series of nine experiments, we attempted to obtain this effect but met with no success. Rather, we obtained other expected spatial and semantic effects highlighting the robustness of our procedures. We contend that the LCC effect needs to be taken with great caution.
2017
Navarrete, E.; Peressotti, F.; Lerose, L.; Miozzo, M.
Activation cascading in sign production Journal Article
In: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 302–318, 2017.
@article{pmid27656874,
title = {Activation cascading in sign production},
author = {E. Navarrete and F. Peressotti and L. Lerose and M. Miozzo},
doi = {doi: 10.1037/xlm0000312},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-02-01},
journal = {J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn},
volume = {43},
number = {2},
pages = {302--318},
abstract = {In this study, we investigated how activation unfolds in sign production by examining whether signs that are not produced have their representations activated by semantics (cascading of activation). Deaf signers were tested with a picture-picture interference task. Participants were presented with pairs of overlapping pictures and named the green picture (target) while ignoring the red picture (distractor). In Experiment 1 we varied whether target and distractor pictures had similar signs. Signs were produced faster with sign-related picture pairs compared to unrelated picture pairs. The facilitation observed with sign-related pairs replicates the 1 obtained in speaking with sound-related pairs (e.g., bed-bell), a finding cited in support of cascading of activation. In Experiments 2A and 2B we focused on sign iconicity, anticipating that cascading of activation would lead to a facilitatory effect of iconicity. Consistent with this prediction, picture distractors with iconic signs induced faster responses. Furthermore, in Experiment 3, facilitation was found for iconic signs in picture naming. Altogether, our results reveal that cascading of activation is a fundamental aspect of language processing that is at play not only in speaking, but also in signing. Our results also help to define which signs are activated in sign production.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this study, we investigated how activation unfolds in sign production by examining whether signs that are not produced have their representations activated by semantics (cascading of activation). Deaf signers were tested with a picture-picture interference task. Participants were presented with pairs of overlapping pictures and named the green picture (target) while ignoring the red picture (distractor). In Experiment 1 we varied whether target and distractor pictures had similar signs. Signs were produced faster with sign-related picture pairs compared to unrelated picture pairs. The facilitation observed with sign-related pairs replicates the 1 obtained in speaking with sound-related pairs (e.g., bed-bell), a finding cited in support of cascading of activation. In Experiments 2A and 2B we focused on sign iconicity, anticipating that cascading of activation would lead to a facilitatory effect of iconicity. Consistent with this prediction, picture distractors with iconic signs induced faster responses. Furthermore, in Experiment 3, facilitation was found for iconic signs in picture naming. Altogether, our results reveal that cascading of activation is a fundamental aspect of language processing that is at play not only in speaking, but also in signing. Our results also help to define which signs are activated in sign production.
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