Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.
(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)
Parafoveal versus foveal processing of morphologically complex (prefixed) words
Abstract
Three experiments investigated whether morphological constituents influence word processing during reading. Individuals read sentences containing free stem, bound stem, and pseudo-prefixed words. In Experiments 1 and 2, a parafoveal display change manipulation indicated that the morphological constituents of a prefixed word are not available for preprocessing in the parafovea as reading times on the target word did not differ for prefixed versus pseudo-prefixed words. Interestingly, parafoveal preview of word initial and word final letters resulted in an equivalent amount orthographic facilitation for all word types. In Experiment 3, a fast priming manipulation indicated that morphological priming effects for prefixed words are obscured during sentence processing. However, the form of the prime did facilitate subsequent word processing for all three word types. The results suggest that English prefixed words are accessed via their whole word form, as there was no evidence of morphological decomposition for prefixed words during sentence processing.
Subject Area
Cognitive therapy|Psychology|Experiments|Linguistics
Recommended Citation
Kambe, Gretchen, "Parafoveal versus foveal processing of morphologically complex (prefixed) words" (2001). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI3027217.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3027217