On the joint effects of repetition and stimulus quality in lexical decision: Looking to the past for a new way forward

Chris Blais, Shannon O'Malley, Derek Besner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the joint effects of stimulus quality and repetition in the context of lexical decision. Experiment 1 yielded an interaction between repetition and stimulus quality for words (but additive effects for nonwords) when the lag was short, replicating previous reports. Experiment 2, with a much longer lag than Experiment 1, yielded main effects of stimulus quality and repetition, but these factors no longer interact. The joint effects of stimulus quality and repetition for words as a function of lag can be understood in terms of two loci for repetition effects: one short-term and one long-term. The transient effect of repetition is on activation levels in the lexicons (and in which the input lexicon, but not beyond, is affected by stimulus quality), whereas the long-term effect is on the strength of two-way connections between lexical-lexical and lexical-semantic modules. These data and others, taken together with the account, provide a new way of thinking about a 30-year-old conundrum.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2368-2382
Number of pages15
JournalQuarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Volume64
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Lexical decision
  • Repetition
  • Stimulus quality
  • Word recognition

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • General Psychology
  • Physiology (medical)

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