Graduate Student, Institute of Health, Social Care and Psychology
Research Student / Research Assistant / Sessional Lecturer
IHS: Psychological Sciences
Thesis Title: The loci of age of acquisition and word frequency effects: Evidence from contemporary experimental paradigms and eye-movements
Jonathan Catling
Matthew Jellis
David Moore
About
Research has demonstrated that words which are acquired earlier in life and those which occur frequently within a langauge tend to be processed significantly faster and more accurately than their matched counterparts. These effects remain prevalent across stimuli types (e.g. pictures and words) and a wide variety of experimental paradigms (e.g. word naming, picture identification, lexical decision, memory tasks and sentence reading). However, there is substantial debate concerning the nature, loci and time course of these effects, the validity of stimuli and reliability of certain techniques. My research attempts to resolve these issues.
More specifically, it attempts to identify whether AoA and word frequency effects are localised at the perceptual, semantic &/or lexical levels of processing or alternatively distributed throughout the cognitive system. It also attempts to differentiate AoA from a range of intercorrelated variables including word frequency, imageability, familiarity, word length, concreteness and name agreement to increase experimental control. Therefore, I am utilising a range of traditional experimental paradigms in congunction with new approaches and time sensitive measures of gaze.
Contact Information
Psychological Sciences, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, St Johns, Worcester, WR2 6AJ.
