Neighbourhood size and neighbourhood frequency effects in the recognition of Italian written words

Abstract

The present research investigates neighbourhood size and neighbourhood frequency effects in recognition of Italian written words. Neighbourhood size is the number of words that may be generated by changing one letter of the target word, preserving letter positions; neighbourhood frequency refers to the relationship between the frequencies of neighbours and the frequency of the stimulus word (Grainger, O’Regan, Jacobs & Segui, 1989). By extending the studies on Italian non words of Arduino & Burani (2004) and Mulatti, Peressotti & Job (2007) to Italian five-letter words, four experiments were carried out in order to test the neighbourhood size and the neighbourhood frequency effects, as well as the possible interaction between them. We have used, as experimental tasks, the simple lexical decision, the word and nonword naming and the lexical decision with unmasked orthographic priming.[edited by author]