title: Semantic and phonological influences on visual word learning in a transparent language.
abstract: Orthographic representations of words are indispensable for reading fluency. The ways in which these representations are developed and their resistance to decay are hotly debated topics. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of semantic and phonological representations on the formation of orthographic representations in a transparent orthography. In order to achieve this objective, an experiment with three conditions was carried out. In the first condition, a group of university students were asked to repeatedly read 10 new words after semantic and phonological training, in the second condition another group of participants read the new words after phonological training, and in the third condition participants read without previous training. Finally, a follow-up session was performed to test the resistance to decay of the orthographic representations. The results showed that participants who had received semantic training formed the representations faster than participants in the other conditions, as indicated by the decrease in length effect. These results indicate the important role of previous knowledge when people face new written words. A month later these orthographic representations still remained in the lexicon of the participants.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Oviedo , Oviedo , Asturias , Spain.
authors.forename: Paz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suárez-Coalla
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Oviedo , Oviedo , Asturias , Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cuetos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adult readers; Orthographic learning; Reading; Semantic and phonological information; Transparent orthography