Abstract
An experiment was designed to investigate the locus of persistence of information about presentation modality for verbal stimuli. Twenty-four Ss were presented with a continuous series of 672 letter sequences for word/nonword categorization. The sequences were divided equally between words and nonwords, and each item was presented twice in the series, either in the same or in a different modality. Repetition facilitation, the advantage resulting from a second presentation, was greatest in the intramodality conditions for both words (+re responses) and nonwords (−ve responses). Facilitation in these conditions declined from 170 msec at Lag 0 (4 sec) to approximately 40 msec at Lag 63. Facilitation was reduced in the cross-modality condition for words and was absent from the cross-modality condition for nonwords. The modality-specific component of the repetition effect found in the word/nonword categorization paradigm may be attributed to persistence in the nonlexical, as distinct from lexical, component of the word categorization process.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Craik, F. I. M., & Kirsner, K. The effect of speaker’s voice on word recognition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1974, in press.
Hintzman, D. I., Block, R. A., & Inskeep, N. R. Memory for mode of input. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 1972, 11, 741–749.
Kirsner, K. An analysis of the visual component in recognition memory for verbal stimuli. Memory & Cognition, 1973, 1, 449–453.
Kirsner, K. Modality differences in recognition memory for words and their attributes. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1974, in press.
Neisser, U.Cognitive psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967.
Rubenstein, H., Lewis, S. S., & Rubenstein, M. A. Evidence of phonemic recoding in visual word recognition. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 1971, 10, 645–657.
Smith, M. C. Repetition effect and short-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1968, 77, 435–439,
Winer, B. J.Statistical principles in experimental design. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by Research Grant APA 146 from the National Research Council of Canada and by Grant OMHF 164 from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation to B. B. Murdock, Jr.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kirsner, K., Smith, M.C. Modality effects in word identification. Memory & Cognition 2, 637–640 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198132
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198132