title: Imageability, age of acquisition, and frequency factors in acronym comprehension.
abstract: In spite of their unusual orthographic and phonological form, acronyms (e.g., BBC, HIV, NATO) can become familiar to the reader, and their meaning can be accessed well enough that they are understood. The factors in semantic access for acronym stimuli were assessed using a word association task. Two analyses examined the time taken to generate a word association response to acronym cues. Responses were recorded more quickly to cues that elicited a large proportion of semantic responses, and those that were high in associative strength. Participants were shown to be faster to respond to cues which were imageable or early acquired. Frequency was not a significant predictor of word association responses. Implications for theories of lexical organisation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southampton Solent University,Southampton, UK. david.playfoot@solent.ac.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Playfoot
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Izura
mesh_terms: D000004:Abbreviations as Topic; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult