Effects of frequency on visual word recognition tasks: where are they?
Compared the effect of frequency on lexical decision time (LDT) with that on reaction time (RT) in four other tasks, for the same words and subjects. Exp. 1 yielded an effect on semantic categorization RT (person vs. thing) similar in size and form to the effect on LDT. Exp. 2 yielded a substantial effect for syntactic categorization (noun vs. adjective), although weaker than the effect on LDT. In Exp. 3, the effect on naming RT for stress-final disyllabic words was identical to that on LDT, whereas the effect for stress-initial words was weaker. Exp. 4 showed no effect of frequency on delayed naming RT. The data undermine recent arguments for a (mainly) postidentification task-specific locus of frequency effects but are compatible with the older assumption (also characteristic of new PDP learning models) that lexical identification is a major locus of frequency effects (perhaps together with retrieval of meaning or phonology). But effects at that locus may be masked or diluted by other processes.
Monsell
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S
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, England.
Doyle
M C
MC
Haggard
P N
PN
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D014825:Vocabulary