Lexicalizing Letter Strings: The Effects of Repetition, Phonology, Grammatical Category and Context on the Lexicalization of Nonwords
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1997
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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Thesis (B.A.)
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Abstract
This study investigated the effects of repetition, grammatical category, and context on the
lexicalization of nonwords. Toward this end, nonword targets were presented in sentential
contexts over the course of two learning sessions. The effects of initiallexicalization of the target
non words were measured using response latencies from a lexical decision task. The expectation
was that signs of initiallexicalization would be evident when comparing response latencies from
the post-learning session lexical decision task to the latencies from the pre-learning session lexical
decision task. A longer post-learning session latency would suggest that the nonword had been
lexicalized to some degree. However, the analyses indicate that repetition priming had an
overwhelming effect on all the experimental variables. Marginal effects of grammatical category
and context were also found. These last two results are suggestive, but firm conclusions would
require further experimentation. The discussion focuses on modifications of the current
investigation.