title: Real age-of-acquisition effects in lexical retrieval.
abstract: Previous research on the effects of age of acquisition on lexical processing has relied on adult estimates of the age at which children learn words. The authors report 2 experiments in which effects of age of acquisition on lexical retrieval are demonstrated using real age-of-acquisition norms. In Experiment 1, real age of acquisition emerged as a powerful predictor of adult object-naming speed. There were also significant effects of visual complexity, word frequency, and name agreement. Similar results were obtained in reanalyses of data from 2 other studies of object naming. In Experiment 2, real age of acquisition affected immediate but not delayed object-naming speed. The authors conclude that age-of-acquisition effects are real and suggest that age of acquisition influences the speed with which spoken word forms can be retrieved from the phonological lexicon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of York, England. awel@york.ac.uk
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Morrison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012016:Reference Values; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning