Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology
Published on: June 29, 2021
Learning to Spell Novel Words: The Relationship Between Orthographic and Semantic Representations During Incidental
Shauna P A de Long1, Jocelyn R Folk2
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, OH, 44242, USA. sdelong8@kent.edu.
Abstract:
The current study investigated whether semantic (meaning) knowledge benefits learning orthography (spelling). Adult readers read 14 novel non-words embedded in sentences with informative or uninformative context. Orthographic and semantic posttests assessed learning. In E1, results indicated that the relationship between context and orthographic accuracy was moderated by spelling frequency. In E2, all novel words had low-frequency spelling bodies. The results did not show a main effect of access to meaning on learning spelling, but they did reveal a strong association between learning spelling and meaning. In E3, participants received fewer exposures to increase the task difficulty. There was no main effect of access to words' meaning on learning spellings, but there were strong associations between orthographic and semantic posttest accuracy. These findings indicate that teaching words' spellings and meanings independently of one another may not be the most beneficial means of learning new words.
More Related Videos
12:49Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation tDCS of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition
Published on: July 13, 2019
08:17A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential ERP Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Published on: April 12, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Encoding
Automatic processing involves the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words, usually done without conscious...
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning, also known...
Mnemonic Devices
Acronyms
Acronyms are created by using the initial letters of a series of words to form a new word or phrase. This approach condenses complex information into a single, memorable entity. For example,...
Language and Cognition
Storage
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory