Re-examining word length effects in visual word recognition

In the present study, we reexamined the effect of word length (number of letters in a word) on lexical decision. Using the English Lexicon Project, which is based on a large data set of over 40,481 words (Balota et al., 2002), we performed simultaneous mul

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review2006, 13 (1), 45-52

Reexamining the word length effect in visual word recognition: New evidence from the English Lexicon Project

BORIS NEW

Université René Descartes–Paris 5, Boulogne-Billancourt, FranceLUDOVIC FERRAND

CNRS and Université René Descartes–Paris 5, Boulogne-Billancourt, France

CHRISTOPHE PALLIER

INSERM, U562 Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay, France

and

MARC BRYSBAERT

Royal Holloway, University of London, London, England

In the present study, we reexamined the effect of word length (number of letters in a word) on lexical decision. Using the English Lexicon Project, which is based on a large data set of over 40,481 words (Balota et al., 2002), we performed simultaneous multiple regression analyses on a selection of 33,006 English words (ranging from 3 to 13 letters in length). Our analyses revealed an unexpected pattern of results taking the form of a U-shaped curve. The effect of number of letters was facilitatory for words of 3–5 letters, null for words of 5–8 letters, and inhibitory for words of 8–13 letters. We also showed that printed frequency, number of syllables, and number of orthographic neighbors all made independent contributions. The length effects were replicated in a new analysis of a subset of 3,833 monomorphe-mic nouns (ranging from 3 to 10 letters), and also in another analysis based on 12,987 bisyllabic items (ranging from 3 to 9 letters). These effects were independent of printed frequency, number of syllables, and number of orthographic neighbors. Furthermore, we also observed robust linear inhibitory effects of number of syllables. Implications for models of visual word recognition are discussed.

45 Copyright 2006 Psychonomic Society, Inc.

In the present study, we reexamined the effect of word length (number of letters in a word) on lexical decision. Using the English Lexicon Project, which is based on a large data set of over 40,481 words (Balota et al., 2002), we performed simultaneous mul

46 NEW, FERRAND, PALLIER, AND BRYSBAERT

Table 1

Summary of Empirical Investigations of the Length Effects on Adults with Foveally Presented Words

Study

Howes & Solomon (1951)

McGinnies, Comer, & Lacey (1952)Postman & Adis-Castro (1957)Newbigging & Hay (1962)Doggett & Richards (1975)Doggett & Richards (1975)Richards & Heller (1976)

Bijeljac-Babic, Millogo, Farioli, & Grainger (2004)

Experiment

Language

Length

Length EffectNull

InhibitoryInhibitoryInhibitoryNull

Inhibitory trendNullNullNullNull

InhibitoryInhibitoryInhibitoryInhibitoryInhibitoryNull

InhibitoryInhibitoryNull

InhibitoryInhibitoryNullInhibitoryInhibitoryInhibitory

Perceptual Identification

2English1English1English1English1English2English1;3;4English1French

Lexical Decision2English1English1;2;3;4Dutch1French1EnglishNaming111;22a;2b11111

EnglishEnglishDutchFrenchEnglishEnglish

German; EnglishEnglishFrench

6–125;7;9;115;7;9;114;7;10

3;4;5;6;7;8;9;10;114;7;8;103;4;6;73;4;5;6;7;84–65–114–12

4;5;7;9;112;3;4;5;6;7;84;5;65-114-12

4;5;7;9;112;3;4;5;6;7;83;4;5;63;4;5;6

2;3;4;5;6;7;83;4;5;6;75;6;7;8;95;6;7;8;9;105;6;7

Frederiksen & Kroll (1976)Richardson (1976)

Hudson & Bergman (1985)O’Regan & Jacobs (1992)

Balota, Cortese, Sergent-Marshall, Spieler, & Yap (2004)Frederiksen & Kroll (1976)Richardson (1976)

Hudson & Bergman (1985)O’Regan & Jacobs (1992)Spieler & Balota (1997)Weekes (1997)

Ziegler, Perry, Jacobs, & Braun (2001)

Balota, Cortese, Sergent-Marshall, Spieler, & Yap (2004)Bijeljac-Babic, Millogo, Farioli, & Grainger (2004)Vitu, O’Regan, & Mittau (1990)Rayner, Sereno, & Raney (1996)Juhasz & Rayner (2003)

Eye Movements1French1English 1 English

per letter) and in lexical decision (no size was given), but

researchers in two other studies (Frederiksen & Kroll, 1976; Richardson, 1976) found length effects in naming but not in lexical decision.

Investigating word length and frequency effects, O’Regan and Jacobs (1992) found reliable inhibitory length effects in lexical decision and naming with words ranging from 4 to 11 letters. The effect size was around 15–19 msec per letter both in lexical decision and in nam-ing. Furthermore, the authors showed that frequency and length did not interact.

Inhibitory effects have also been found in eye move-ment recordings of participants reading isolated words or normal text (Vitu, O’Regan, & Mittau, 1990). Vitu et al. reported a significant increase of gaze duration and re-fixation probability with word length. Furthermore, there was no hint of any frequency length interaction, thus replicating the results that O’Regan and Jacobs (1992) obtained in lexical decision and naming. Rayner, Sereno, and Raney (1996) also showed that length effects were ob-tained even when a single fixation was made on the word. Recently, Juhasz and Rayner (2003) found word length to be a significant predictor of gaze duration and total fixa-tion duration, confirming Rayner et al.’s finding.

Testing naming performance on 2,820 single-syllable words, Spieler and Balota (1997) found a surprisingly large inhibitory influence of length in letters (4.5% unique vari-ance, 6.3% for log frequency, and 2.2% for orthographic neighborhood size). In a cross-language study, comparing German and English cognates, Ziegler, Perry, Jacobs, and B …… 此处隐藏：32845字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……