The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and Font
Prior studies have shown that words show a composite effect: When readers perform a same-different matching task on a target-part of a word, performance is affected by the irrelevant part, whose influence is severely reduced when the two parts are misaligned. However, the locus of this word composit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01036/full |
| _version_ | 1819067261420306432 |
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| author | Paulo Ventura Tânia Fernandes Isabel Leite Vítor B. Almeida Inês Casqueiro Alan C.-N. Wong |
| author_facet | Paulo Ventura Tânia Fernandes Isabel Leite Vítor B. Almeida Inês Casqueiro Alan C.-N. Wong |
| author_sort | Paulo Ventura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Prior studies have shown that words show a composite effect: When readers perform a same-different matching task on a target-part of a word, performance is affected by the irrelevant part, whose influence is severely reduced when the two parts are misaligned. However, the locus of this word composite effect is largely unknown. To enlighten it, in two experiments, Portuguese readers performed the composite task on letter strings: in Experiment 1, in written words varying in surface features (between-participants: courier, notera, alternating-cAsE), and in Experiment 2 in pseudowords. The word composite effect, signaled by a significant interaction between alignment of the two word parts and congruence between parts was found in the three conditions of Experiment 1, being unaffected by NoVeLtY of the configuration or by handwritten form. This effect seems to have a lexical locus, given that in Experiment 2 only the main effect of congruence between parts was significant and was not modulated by alignment. Indeed, the cross-experiment analysis showed that words presented stronger congruence effects than pseudowords only in the aligned condition, because when misaligned the whole lexical item configuration was disrupted. Therefore, the word composite effect strongly depends on abstract lexical representations, as it is unaffected by surface features and is specific to lexical items. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T16:15:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6bb4a5d886904be088cb6f8cceac9285 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T16:15:27Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6bb4a5d886904be088cb6f8cceac92852022-12-21T18:57:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782017-06-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.01036253287The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and FontPaulo Ventura0Tânia Fernandes1Isabel Leite2Vítor B. Almeida3Inês Casqueiro4Alan C.-N. Wong5Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de LisboaLisboa, PortugalFaculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de LisboaLisboa, PortugalDepartamento de Psicologia, Universidade de ÉvoraÉvora, PortugalFaculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de LisboaLisboa, PortugalFaculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de LisboaLisboa, PortugalDepartment of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong KongShatin, Hong KongPrior studies have shown that words show a composite effect: When readers perform a same-different matching task on a target-part of a word, performance is affected by the irrelevant part, whose influence is severely reduced when the two parts are misaligned. However, the locus of this word composite effect is largely unknown. To enlighten it, in two experiments, Portuguese readers performed the composite task on letter strings: in Experiment 1, in written words varying in surface features (between-participants: courier, notera, alternating-cAsE), and in Experiment 2 in pseudowords. The word composite effect, signaled by a significant interaction between alignment of the two word parts and congruence between parts was found in the three conditions of Experiment 1, being unaffected by NoVeLtY of the configuration or by handwritten form. This effect seems to have a lexical locus, given that in Experiment 2 only the main effect of congruence between parts was significant and was not modulated by alignment. Indeed, the cross-experiment analysis showed that words presented stronger congruence effects than pseudowords only in the aligned condition, because when misaligned the whole lexical item configuration was disrupted. Therefore, the word composite effect strongly depends on abstract lexical representations, as it is unaffected by surface features and is specific to lexical items.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01036/fullperceptual expertisevisual word recognitionholistic effectcomposite taskalternating-casehandwritten forms |
| spellingShingle | Paulo Ventura Tânia Fernandes Isabel Leite Vítor B. Almeida Inês Casqueiro Alan C.-N. Wong The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and Font Frontiers in Psychology perceptual expertise visual word recognition holistic effect composite task alternating-case handwritten forms |
| title | The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and Font |
| title_full | The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and Font |
| title_fullStr | The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and Font |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and Font |
| title_short | The Word Composite Effect Depends on Abstract Lexical Representations But Not Surface Features Like Case and Font |
| title_sort | word composite effect depends on abstract lexical representations but not surface features like case and font |
| topic | perceptual expertise visual word recognition holistic effect composite task alternating-case handwritten forms |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01036/full |
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