title: A normative study of acronyms and acronym naming.
abstract: Acronyms are an idiosyncratic part of our everyday vocabulary. Research in word processing has used acronyms as a tool to answer fundamental questions such as the nature of the word superiority effect (WSE) or which is the best way to account for word-reading processes. In this study, acronym naming was assessed by looking at the influence that a number of variables known to affect mainstream word processing has had in acronym naming. The nature of the effect of these factors on acronym naming was examined using a multilevel regression analysis. First, 146 acronyms were described in terms of their age of acquisition, bigram and trigram frequencies, imageability, number of orthographic neighbors, frequency, orthographic and phonological length, print-to-pronunciation patterns, and voicing characteristics. Naming times were influenced by lexical and sublexical factors, indicating that acronym naming is a complex process affected by more variables than those previously considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, Wales, UK. c.izura@swansea.ac.uk
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Izura
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Playfoot
mesh_terms: D000004:Abbreviations as Topic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001245:Association Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007600:Judgment; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D015443:Word Processing; D055815:Young Adult