Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology
Published on: June 29, 2021
Phenomenal background frequency and the concreteness/imagery effect in verbal discrimination learning
1Psychology Department, Weber State College, 84408, Ogden, Utah.
Abstract:
College students gave frequency ratings for concrete and abstract words which were equated on normative frequency. The results replicated the finding of Galbraith and Underwood (1973) that abstract words are perceived to be higher in frequency than concrete words. Different subjects then learned verbal discrimination lists consisting of both abstract and concrete pairs. While the usual concreteness effect was obtained when abstract and concrete items differed widely on phenomenal frequency, it disappeared when these items were equated on perceived frequency. The finding that appropriate frequency manipulations can eliminate the concreteness/imagery effect, coupled with similar findings for other stimulus characteristics, lends strong support to the frequency theory of discrimination learning.
Related Concept Videos
Difference from Background: Limit of Detection
The LOD indicates the presence or absence...
Auditory Perception
Generalization, Discrimination, and Extinction
Generalization occurs when a behavior reinforced in one context is performed in similar situations. For instance, a student who studies diligently for calculus and receives excellent grades might apply the same study habits to psychology and history, expecting similar results. Generalization shows how learning in one setting can influence behavior in...
Perceptual Constancy
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...

