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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Published on: June 25, 2019

A mega recognition memory study of 2897 disyllabic words.

Michael J Cortese¹, Daniel P McCarty, Jocelyn Schock

¹a Department of Psychology , University of Nebraska , Omaha , NE , US.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)

|September 16, 2014

Summary

This study examined word recognition memory in 120 participants using 3000 disyllabic words. Key factors influencing memory performance included word imageability, length, orthographic similarity, and frequency.

Keywords:

Megastudy Recognition memory

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Psycholinguistics
Memory Research

Background:

Prior research by Cortese, Khanna, and Hacker (2010) investigated monosyllabic word recognition.
Understanding factors influencing disyllabic word recognition memory is crucial for memory models.

Purpose of the Study:

To estimate recognition memory for 3000 disyllabic words.
To analyze the influence of word properties on recognition memory performance.
To test predictions of single- and dual-process theories of memory.

Main Methods:

120 participants studied and were tested on lists of disyllabic words.
Recognition memory estimates (hits, false alarms) were collected.
Multiple regression analysis examined predictors like word frequency, length, imageability, age of acquisition, and similarity.

Main Results:

Predictor variables accounted for 34.9% of the variance in hits minus false alarms.
Imageability, length, orthographic similarity, and frequency were significant predictors.
Phonological similarity did not significantly predict performance.

Conclusions:

Findings align with single- and dual-process theories, with several word properties influencing recognition memory.
A key challenge arises as hit rates and false alarms were not correlated across items, contradicting the 'mirror pattern' predicted by most theories.