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ANIMACY EFFECTS IN SPANISH VISUAL WORD RECOGNITION: A CORPUS STUDY

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Date Issued:
2023
Abstract/Description:
This thesis analyzes if animacy facilitates the visual recognition of words in Spanish. I compared native-speaker reaction times to Spanish words with animate and inanimate referents in a word-nonword identification task, also known as the lexical decision task. Responses were collected from a database and coded for animacy as well as six lexical and semantic variables known to affect reading times. Linear mixed effects modeling suggested that participants responded to animate words significantly more quickly, independently of factors such as frequency and familiarity. The findings are interpreted from the perspective of parallel distributed processing model of word recognition in Seidenberg and McClelland (1989). The present study highlights the importance of animacy to language processing and presents one avenue through which we can understand which dimensions of the referential world are relevant to the processing and organization of language.
Title: ANIMACY EFFECTS IN SPANISH VISUAL WORD RECOGNITION: A CORPUS STUDY.
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Name(s): Martin, Micaela, author
Viktor Kharlamov, Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2023
Date Issued: 2023
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 69 p.
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: This thesis analyzes if animacy facilitates the visual recognition of words in Spanish. I compared native-speaker reaction times to Spanish words with animate and inanimate referents in a word-nonword identification task, also known as the lexical decision task. Responses were collected from a database and coded for animacy as well as six lexical and semantic variables known to affect reading times. Linear mixed effects modeling suggested that participants responded to animate words significantly more quickly, independently of factors such as frequency and familiarity. The findings are interpreted from the perspective of parallel distributed processing model of word recognition in Seidenberg and McClelland (1989). The present study highlights the importance of animacy to language processing and presents one avenue through which we can understand which dimensions of the referential world are relevant to the processing and organization of language.
Identifier: FA00014145 (IID)
Degree granted: Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2023.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Animacy (Grammar)
Spanish language
Grammar, Comparative and general--Animacy
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014145
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.