Is the go/no-go lexical decision task preferable to the yes/no task with developing readers?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Educational psychology

Background:

• The lexical decision task is a common method for studying visual word identification.
• Developing readers often exhibit high error rates and slow response times in standard lexical decision tasks.
• Modifications to the task may enhance performance in young readers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of the go/no-go variant versus the standard yes/no lexical decision task.
• To assess performance differences in developing readers (second and fourth graders).

Main Methods:

• A lexical decision experiment was conducted comparing two conditions: yes/no and go/no-go.
• Participants included second- and fourth-grade children.
• Stimuli were words and nonwords presented visually.

Main Results:

• Error rates were substantially lower in the go/no-go task for both words and nonwords.
• Lexical decision times were significantly faster with the go/no-go procedure.
• Response time variability was reduced for high-frequency words in the go/no-go task.

Conclusions:

• The go/no-go lexical decision task is a more effective and reliable method for studying visual word identification in developing readers.
• This modified task facilitates better performance and reduces variability in young children's reading research.