Abstract
Semantic priming refers to a facilitation of responding speed due to the presentation of a semantically related word, while, similarly, phonological priming refers to improved recognition of a target word preceded by a word sharing the same phonological feature. Even though both of these priming effects were proved to be effective in lexical processing, it is still uncertain about whether there is difference between semantic priming effect and phonological priming effect in visual word recognition. This study focused on semantic and phonological priming effects in reading two-character Chinese words. With the lexical decision task, 18 native Mandarin speakers voluntarily took part in the experiment. It was shown that the responding speed to the target word preceded by semantic primes was faster than that preceded by phonological primes than that preceded by unrelated control primes. In other words, there are positive semantic and phonological priming effects in reading Chinese, and the effect of semantic priming is stronger than that of phonological priming. The findings supported dual-route model in lexical processing and shed more light on the studies concerning semantic and phonological priming effects in reading Chinese words.
Highlights
It is widely accepted that the semantic association between a target word and another word preceding it would speed up its lexical processing
It was shown that the responding speed to the target word preceded by semantic primes was faster than that preceded by phonological primes than that preceded by unrelated control primes
People respond to the target word preceded by semantic primes faster than that preceded by phonological primes than that preceded by unrelated control primes
Summary
It is widely accepted that the semantic association between a target word (e.g., nurse) and another word (e.g., doctor) preceding it would speed up its lexical processing. 2022, Vol 14, No 1 responding speed to the target word is likely to be faster when it is preceded by a word sharing the same phonological feature (e.g., homophone or semihomophone) than when it is preceded by a totally unrelated word (Zhou & Wilson-William, 1999). Zhou & Marslen-Wilson (2000) compared the relative time course of semantic and phonological activation in reading two-character Chinese words and reported that semantic primes had a strong effect on words recognition while the phonological primes failed to have either positive or negative effects on the target words. It is noteworthy that there is inconsistency in documented literature on the semantic/phonological activation in Chinese words recognition, this study intends to focus on the same research questions as Zhou & Marslen-Wilson (2000) investigated It is noteworthy that there is inconsistency in documented literature on the semantic/phonological activation in Chinese words recognition, this study intends to focus on the same research questions as Zhou & Marslen-Wilson (2000) investigated (i.e., Are there any semantic and/or phonological priming effects in reading two-character Chinese words? And if so, which priming effect, semantic or phonological, is stronger in reading Chinese?) to shed more light on the studies concerning semantic and phonological priming effects in reading Chinese words
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