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Grammatical and conceptual features in the mental lexicon: Processing in isolation and in context
Abstract
The experiments reported here investigated how lexical information is used during word and sentence processing. Predictions of the Feature Dimension Proposal, according to which information in lexical entries in the mental lexicon is represented as features, were tested. Experiments 1-4 tested predictions made by a Vocabulary Type Proposal, which says that classes of words like closed class or open class words should be processed with the same ease as other words in their class and that context manipulations should not influence their processing, against predictions of a Significant Semantics Proposal, according to which ease of lexical processing is influenced by the amount of semantic content in the word's lexical entry. Experiments 1 and 2 replicated Taft's (1990) finding that cannot-stand-alone words lead to longer lexical decision reaction times than do can-stand-alone words, suggesting that the Vocabulary Type Proposal is insufficient. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that the results demonstrated in Experiments 1 and 2 did not occur when target words were placed in semantically neutral sentence contexts, supporting the Feature Dimension Proposal over the Significant Semantics Proposal. In Experiments 5, 6, and 7, results from lexical decision and naming tasks revealed a difference in priming within the closed class and open class vocabularies and also suggested that size of priming contexts influences stability of closed-class priming. In Experiment 8, using a cross-modal lexical decision task, Shillcock and Bard's (1991) finding of facilitated lexical decision responses to related open class targets presented at the offset of an open class/closed class homophone only in a context supporting the open class version of the homophone was replicated and extended. A processing advantage for closed class lexical decision targets existed if the lexical decision target was related to the closed class version of the homophone and the homophone was presented in a context supporting its closed class sense. This advantage was similar to, although smaller in magnitude than, the effect for open class target words. Implications about the nature of the human language processing system are discussed.
Subject Area
Experimental psychology|Linguistics|Educational psychology|Psychology
Recommended Citation
Schmauder, Anna Rene, "Grammatical and conceptual features in the mental lexicon: Processing in isolation and in context" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9305891.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9305891