Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound words
Semantic transparency refers to the extent to which the meaning of a multimorphemic word can be determined from the meaning of its constituents. In terms of compounds, semantic transparency has been operationally defined in multiple ways, and research has sometimes produced conflicting results conce...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-12-01
|
| Series: | Methods in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590260120300175 |
| _version_ | 1818875775850381312 |
|---|---|
| author | Leah Auch Christina L. Gagné Thomas L. Spalding |
| author_facet | Leah Auch Christina L. Gagné Thomas L. Spalding |
| author_sort | Leah Auch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Semantic transparency refers to the extent to which the meaning of a multimorphemic word can be determined from the meaning of its constituents. In terms of compounds, semantic transparency has been operationally defined in multiple ways, and research has sometimes produced conflicting results concerning its effect on processing. This study explored a potential source of these experimental conflicts by examining the methodology and measures used to operationalize semantic transparency. First, we used factor analysis to investigate whether common measures of semantic transparency truly inform the same underlying construct and found that there were at least four factors represented by eleven common semantic transparency variables. After extracting predicted values from these factors, we found that different aspects of semantic transparency are not equally predictive of behavioural data from lexical decision and naming tasks. Moreover, the various aspects represented by the different measures appear to interact and influence each other when predicting this behavioural data. We conclude that different measures of semantic transparency reflect different constructs, and that this should be considered when investigating the effect of semantic transparency. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T13:31:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-823c4ead71354bc498b8a538aa833ca0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-2601 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T13:31:52Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Methods in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-823c4ead71354bc498b8a538aa833ca02022-12-21T20:19:21ZengElsevierMethods in Psychology2590-26012020-12-013100030Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound wordsLeah Auch0Christina L. Gagné1Thomas L. Spalding2University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaCorresponding author. P-217 Biological Sciences Building, Department of Psychology, T6G 2E9, Canada.; University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaUniversity of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaSemantic transparency refers to the extent to which the meaning of a multimorphemic word can be determined from the meaning of its constituents. In terms of compounds, semantic transparency has been operationally defined in multiple ways, and research has sometimes produced conflicting results concerning its effect on processing. This study explored a potential source of these experimental conflicts by examining the methodology and measures used to operationalize semantic transparency. First, we used factor analysis to investigate whether common measures of semantic transparency truly inform the same underlying construct and found that there were at least four factors represented by eleven common semantic transparency variables. After extracting predicted values from these factors, we found that different aspects of semantic transparency are not equally predictive of behavioural data from lexical decision and naming tasks. Moreover, the various aspects represented by the different measures appear to interact and influence each other when predicting this behavioural data. We conclude that different measures of semantic transparency reflect different constructs, and that this should be considered when investigating the effect of semantic transparency.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590260120300175Semantic transparencyCompound wordsFactor analysisPsycholinguisticsMorphologyCognitive psychology |
| spellingShingle | Leah Auch Christina L. Gagné Thomas L. Spalding Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound words Methods in Psychology Semantic transparency Compound words Factor analysis Psycholinguistics Morphology Cognitive psychology |
| title | Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound words |
| title_full | Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound words |
| title_fullStr | Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound words |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound words |
| title_short | Conceptualizing semantic transparency: A systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in English compound words |
| title_sort | conceptualizing semantic transparency a systematic analysis of semantic transparency measures in english compound words |
| topic | Semantic transparency Compound words Factor analysis Psycholinguistics Morphology Cognitive psychology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590260120300175 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leahauch conceptualizingsemantictransparencyasystematicanalysisofsemantictransparencymeasuresinenglishcompoundwords AT christinalgagne conceptualizingsemantictransparencyasystematicanalysisofsemantictransparencymeasuresinenglishcompoundwords AT thomaslspalding conceptualizingsemantictransparencyasystematicanalysisofsemantictransparencymeasuresinenglishcompoundwords |