UNSETTLING QUESTIONS ABOUT SEMANTIC AMBIGUITY IN CONNECTIONIST MODELS- COMMENT

S. Joordens and D. Besner (1994) described an attempt to simulate a se mantic ambiguity advantage in lexical decision using a connectionist m odel (Masson, 1991) that was based on a Hopfield (1982) network. The q uestion of the validity of the ambiguity advantage is briefly consider ed, and the assumptions behind the simulation results reported by Joor dens and Besner are critically examined. The model used by Joordens an d Besner is compared with other connectionist models, and alternative methods of simulating lexical decisions with this class of models are discussed. It is concluded that further empirical evidence is required and that a number of modeling alternatives need to be explored before strong conclusions can be made about the validity of the semantic amb iguity advantage and about the best way to model the effect.