Was Humpty Dumpty Right? An Exploratory Study of Semantic Priming and Lexical Access

Abstract

This study investigates the way subjects gain access to their internal lexicon and assesses the effects of context on this process. The focus is on ambiguous words that are homographic but pronounced differently. A total of 35 adult subjects read aloud from word lists containing the same target homographs. In two conditions the targets were primed by words calculated to influence subjects either towards a regular or irregular pronunciation; a third condition without primers provided a baseline check. The influence of primers on subjects’ pronunciations was recorded and calculated. Results confirmed a significant influence of primers on pronunciation for a majority of target words. Further analysis showed groups of subjects were significantly (p<0.001) influenced by semantic primers. However, results are interpreted cautiously and proposals are made for a more rigorous study using this exploratory work as a basis. Finally, the potential of semantic priming studies for future research is outlined.