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Repetition blindness occurs in nonwords
Catherine L Harris1, Alison L Morris
1Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. charris@bu.edu
Summary
Repetition blindness (RB) occurs for nonwords, challenging prior theories. This study found RB in nonwords due to sublexical processing, suggesting new insights into cognitive mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Experimental Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Theorists predicted repetition blindness (RB) absent for nonwords due to lack of pre-existing mental types.
- RB is a phenomenon where repeated items are overlooked.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if repetition blindness (RB) occurs for nonwords.
- To test the hypothesis that RB can manifest at a sublexical level.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments were conducted using word-nonword pairs, orthographically similar nonwords, and identical nonword repetitions.
- Participants were presented with stimuli to assess their ability to detect repeated nonwords.
Main Results:
- Repetition blindness (RB) was observed for nonwords in various conditions.
- Greater RB was found for words compared to nonwords.
- Nonword RB occurred for identical repetitions and orthographically similar nonwords.
Conclusions:
- Repetition blindness (RB) is not limited to words and can occur for nonwords.
- Sublexical processing likely underlies RB in nonwords.
- Previous failures to find nonword RB may stem from insufficient display conditions or observer guessing strategies.