Noun-modifier order in a semantic verification task

Abstract

In a semantic verification task, presenting the noun before its modifier yielded faster reaction times than did the opposite order of presentation. This finding held for two languages and for both concrete (food terms) and abstract (country names) terms and is thus not attributable to natural word order or to type of stimulus. The results can be explained in terms of spreading activation (Collins & Loftus, 1975). A post hoc analysis revealed that concrete nouns are verified faster when paired with concrete rather than abstract modifiers, but that abstract nouns are verified faster when paired with abstract rather than concrete modifiers. An additional group of subjects, asked to produce attributes to nouns, produced more concrete than abstract modifiers to contrete nouns, but more abstract than concrete modifiers to abstract nouns. This result was taken as suggestive of possible differences in internal structure of concrete and abstract categories.