Research:
Lexical Task: recognition time of word frequency.
Balota, David A., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human perception and performance. June, 1984 vol 10(3) pp.340-357
Three experiments with 80 undergraduates investigated the impact of 5 lexical variables (instance dominance, category dominance, word frequency, word length in letters, and word length in syllables) on performance in 3 tasks involving word recognition: category verification, lexical decision, and pronunciation. Although the same set of words was used in each task, the relationship of the lexical variables to RT varied significantly with the task within which the words were embedded. The effect of word frequency was minimal in the category verification task, whereas it was significantly larger in the pronunciation task and significantly larger yet in the lexical decision task. It is argued that decision processes having little to do with lexical access accentuate the word-frequency effect in the lexical decision task and that results from this task have questionable value in testing the assumption that word frequency orders the lexicon, thereby affecting time to access the mental lexicon. A simple 2-stage model is outlined to account for the role of word frequency and other variables in lexical decision. The model is applied to the results of the reported experiments and some of the findings in other studies of lexical decision and pronunciation.
Sharon A. Mutter., The American Journal of Psychology, 1987, vol 100, No.1 pp.93-116
Cognitive effort requirements for high and low frequency words were assured during study for recognition test and during the performance of a lexical decision task. Recognition for these words was tested following each task. Low frequency words received greater effort than high frequency words during study for recognition, and these words were subsequently recognised better than high frequency words. Cognitive effort requirements during performance of an incidental lexical decision task were similar to those during study for recognition. Moreover, recognition performance following the lexical decision task resembled performance following a recognition expectancy. Overall, the results indicate that low frequency words require more extensive processing than high frequency words and that this difference in processing may be a factor in recognition word frequency effects.
