Lexical effects in word naming in spanish children.

Abstract

Reading strategies depend on the consistency of the orthographic system. Recently the use of lexical strategies at early stages of reading acquisition has been shown even in transparent orthographies. The aim of this study was to know how different lexical and sublexical variables affect the reaction times (RTs) and articulation times (ATs) in word reading in Spanish children. A group of 46 children of typical reading level in the second and fourth grades of primary school were asked to read aloud 100 words presented on a computer screen. The stimuli were morphologically simple nouns with different ranges of length, frequency, imageability, orthographic neighbors and age of acquisition (AoA). Reading and articulation time were measured. Differences between means of the second and the fourth grade were seen in RTs (p < .001; Cohens' d = 1.41) and ATs (p < 001;Cohen's d = 1.41) in a t-test. Analyses of mixed-effects revealed that word length, a sublexical variable, and frequency and AoA, lexical variables, affected both grades, mainly on the RTs. The presence of lexical variables reducing RTs and ATs in second grade suggests that lexical reading is present from very early stages in Spanish children.