[Interaction of activations in a semantic network: an effect of presentation intervals between homographs and context words on recognition memory of homographs].
This study investigated the interactive activation process of homograph (H :e.g. "jam") and context word (c :e.g. "strawberry"). Subjects studied a list of H-C or C-H pairs, where presentation intervals between H and C were varied (0, 0.6, or 1.2 s). Then they were tested for the recognition memory of H in a changed context (e.g. "jam-traffic") in Exp. 1, or in the same context (e.g. "jam-raspberry") in Exp. 2. The recognition memory of H as a function of presentation interval was obtained. An interesting phenomenon was that the recognition memory of H in H-C pairs at the 1.2 s interval was poorer than that of the 0.6 s interval, when tested in a changed context, but better in the same context. This suggests that both meanings of H were activated at the 0.6 s interval, but one of them related to C was selected at the 1.2 s interval. Results were discussed in terms of the spreading activation model of semantic memory.
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008568:Memory; D013997:Time Factors