Pseudohomophone effects in lexical decision: still a challenge for current word recognition models

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Linguistics
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Phonological assembly models predict interactions between pseudohomophone (PsH) effects and stimulus length.
• Frequency-sensitive word representations in models predict baseword frequency effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test predictions of computational models regarding phonological assembly and word recognition.
• To investigate the influence of stimulus length and baseword frequency on the pseudohomophone effect.
• To explore the role of orthographic verification in word processing.

Main Methods:

• Lexical-decision task to assess word recognition.
• Manipulation of stimulus length and baseword frequency.
• Two additional experiments examining response speed and spelling probability.

Main Results:

• Pseudohomophone (PsH) effects remained constant across different word lengths, supporting parallel phonological activation.
• Baseword frequency effects were observed, aligning with frequency-sensitive representations.
• The direction of the baseword frequency effect contradicted model predictions, suggesting an alternative mechanism.

Conclusions:

• Findings support parallel phonological activation and frequency-sensitive representations in word recognition.
• Results challenge serial phonological assembly models and indicate the importance of orthographic verification.
• Further experiments support the plausibility of an orthographic verification mechanism in word processing.