Abstract
Predictions derived from the interactive activation (IA) model were tested in 3 experiments using the masked priming technique in the lexical decision task. Experiment 1 showed a strong effect of prime lexicality: Classifications of target words were facilitated by orthographically related nonword primes (relative to unrelated nonword primes) but were inhibited by orthographically related word primes (relative to unrelated word primes). Experiment 2 confirmed IA's prediction that inhibitory priming effects are greater when the prime and target share a neighbor. Experiment 3 showed a minimal effect of target word neighborhood size (N) on inhibitory priming but a trend toward greater inhibition when nonword foils were high-N than when they were low-N. Simulations of 3 different versions of the IA model showed that the best fit to the data is produced when lexical inhibition is selective and when masking leads to reset of letter activities.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 668-687 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Keywords
- Inhibition
- Interactive activation
- Lexical decision
- Masked priming
- Visual word recognition