What Cross-morphemic Letter Transposition in Derived Nonwords Tells us about Lexical Processing.

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Linguistics

Background:

• The obligatory decomposition account posits that polymorphemic words are processed by first removing derivational affixes.
• This account predicts that both real words and nonwords with real stems and affixes should prime their stems equally.
• Prior research indicated that letter transposition disrupts this priming for nonwords, challenging the obligatory decomposition model.

Purpose of the Study:

• To replicate and extend findings on word recognition and morphological decomposition.
• To test the obligatory decomposition account against experimental data involving intact and transposed-letter nonwords and words.
• To investigate the role of morphological structure in the decomposition process.

Main Methods:

• Replication of Diependaele et al. (2013) experimental conditions.
• Inclusion of a novel nonword condition with a stem followed by a non-suffix.
• Priming tasks measuring lexical decision or stem activation after exposure to target stimuli.

Main Results:

• Priming effects were observed across all conditions, including intact and transposed-letter nonwords and words.
• The findings suggest that obligatory decomposition is maintained even when word stimuli contain transposed letters.
• Non-suffixed nonwords also maintained priming, indicating morphological structure influences processing post-initial form activation.

Conclusions:

• Obligatory decomposition remains a viable account for polymorphemic word recognition.
• Morphological structure does not solely govern decomposition but influences processing after form-based components are activated.
• The study provides evidence for a more nuanced understanding of how word structure and form interact during recognition.