title: Is "hit and run" a single word? The processing of irreversible binomials in neglect dyslexia.
abstract: The present study is the first neuropsychological investigation into the problem of the mental representation and processing of irreversible binomials (IBs), i.e., word pairs linked by a conjunction (e.g., "hit and run," "dead or alive"). In order to test their lexical status, the phenomenon of neglect dyslexia is explored. People with left-sided neglect dyslexia show a clear lexical effect: they can read IBs better (i.e., by dropping the leftmost words less frequently) when their components are presented in their correct order. This may be taken as an indication that they treat these constructions as lexical, not decomposable, elements. This finding therefore constitutes strong evidence that IBs tend to be stored in the mental lexicon as a whole and that this whole form is preferably addressed in the retrieval process.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcara
authors.forename: Graziano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lacaita
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mattaloni
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Passarini
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mondini
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benincà
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Semenza