Lexical Connectivity Effects in Immediate Serial Recall of Words

Autor/inn/en	Mak, Matthew H. C.; Hsiao, Yaling; Nation, Kate
Titel	Lexical Connectivity Effects in Immediate Serial Recall of Words
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 47 (2021) 12, S.1971-1997 (27 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Mak, Matthew H. C.) ORCID (Nation, Kate)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/xlm0001089
Schlagwörter	Recall (Psychology); Associative Learning; Serial Learning; Undergraduate Students; Young Adults; Foreign Countries; Semantics; Language Processing; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Abberufung; Serielles Lernen; Young adult; Junger Erwachsener; Ausland; Semantik; Sprachverarbeitung; Großbritannien
Abstract	In six experiments, we tested whether immediate serial recall is influenced by a word's degree centrality, an index of lexical connectivity. Words of high degree centrality are associated with more words in free association norms than those of low degree centrality. Experiment 1 analyzed secondary data to explore the effect of degree centrality in wordlists containing a mixture of high- and low-degree words. High-degree words were advantaged across all serial positions, independently of other variables including word frequency. Experiment 2 replicated this finding using an expanded stimulus set. Experiment 3 used pure lists with each list containing high- or low-degree words only (e.g., HHHHHH vs. LLLLLL). Once again, high-degree words were better recalled across all serial positions. In Experiment 4, each wordlist alternated between high and low-degree words (e.g., HLHLHL and LHLHLH). Recall of low-degree words was facilitated by the neighboring high-degree words, abolishing the overall high-degree advantage. Experiment 5 used a within-participant design and replicated the findings from Experiments 3 and 4 such that the high-degree advantage in pure lists disappeared in alternating lists. Experiment 6 compared high and low frequency words in pure lists while controlling for degree centrality between the item sets. A high-frequency advantage emerged, suggesting that the effects of frequency and degree centrality are separable. We conclude that degree centrality is a distinct psycholinguistic variable that affects serial recall as both: (1) an item-level characteristic such that high (vs. low) degree words have greater accessibility in the lexicon; and (2) an interitem property such that high-degree words facilitate the recall of neighboring words by enhancing the formation of associative links. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01