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Updated: Sep 27, 2025

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Published on: June 29, 2021
Word's Predictability Can Modulate Semantic Preview Effect in High-Constraint Sentences.
Liling Xu1,2,3, Sui Liu4, Suiping Wang2
1School of Foreign Studies, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Contextual information influences word processing during reading. The semantic preview effect, or priming from upcoming words, only occurs when the target word is unpredictable, not when it
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Psycholinguistics
- Neuroscience of language
Background:
- Reading involves integrating sentential context (predictability) and previewed word information (preview effect).
- The interaction between predictability and preview effects during online reading remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between predictability and preview effects in word processing during sentence reading.
- To determine how contextual predictability influences the semantic preview effect.
Main Methods:
- Utilized high-constraint sentences to control for sentence context.
- Manipulated target word predictability and the semantic relationship between preview and target words.
- Measured the semantic preview effect under varying predictability conditions.
Main Results:
- A significant semantic preview effect was observed only for low-predictability target words.
- The semantic preview effect was absent when target words were highly predictable.
- Contextual predictability modulates word pre-activation and subsequent priming.
Conclusions:
- Sentential context dynamically influences the impact of preview information on word processing.
- Reading comprehension relies on an interactive system integrating information across multiple levels.
- Predictability plays a crucial role in enabling or inhibiting preview-based priming.
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