Abstract
Three experiments test for semantically mediated priming of a word’s phonology (e.g.,sofa, an associate of couch, primes naming performance totouch). In the first two experiments, words that were body-rime-inconsistent (comparetouch tocouch) were used as naming targets. In the third experiment, words that were body-rime-consistent were also used (i.e.,sofa primedpouch). Low-frequency inconsistent words yield a high rate of pronunciation errors when they were primed byindirectly related words, such assofa, in both a standard naming task and a speeded naming task. High-frequency inconsistent words yielded slower naming times when they were primed by indirectly related words in a speeded naming task, but consistent words showed no significant effects of the primes. The results suggest that the relationship between semantics and phonology plays an important, early role in word perception.
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This research was funded by a National Research Service Award (5 F32 DC 00187-03) to W.T.F. and an Independent Scientist Award (1 K02 NS 01905) to G.C.V.O. from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
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Farrar, W.T., van Orden, G.C. & Hamouz, V. When SOFA primes TOUCH: Interdependence of spelling, sound, and meaning in “semantically mediated” phonological priming. Memory & Cognition 29, 530–539 (2001). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196404
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196404