title: Orthographic neighborhood size effects in recognition memory.
abstract: This study argues for the importance of physical word features in recognition memory by investigating the influence of orthographic distinctiveness. Experiment 1 demonstrated a mirror effect in ayes/no recognition test by manipulating orthographic neighborhood size. Words with small neighborhoods showed more hits and fewer false alarms than did words with larger neighborhoods. Experiment 2 replicated the neighborhood size mirror effect using null pairs in a forced choice recognition test. Experiment 3 required remember/know judgments in a yes/no recognition task. Experiment 4 used the same yes/no test as did Experiment 1, adding a study task that drew attention away from orthographic information in the study list. The mirror pattern disappeared with the addition of the study task.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7123, USA. gag5@cwru.edu
authors.forename: Gina A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Glanc
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Greene
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008568:Memory; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D014825:Vocabulary