Paula
J.
Schwanenflugel
University
of Georgia
Caroline
R. Noyes
Oglethorpe
University
|
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The
influence of word meanings on lexical processing in 2nd-, 3nd-, and
5th-grade high- and low-skill readers was examined. Two experiments
examined the relationship between semantic correlates of word concreteness
(specifically, rated imageability and context availability) and lexical
processing speed and accuracy. Rated context availability was a significant
predictor of lexical decision times and word reading accuracy beyond
nonsemantic factors. However, context-availability effects were larger
in young and low-skill readers. Thus, the ability to retrieve the
meanings of low-context-availability words easily is an important
component in the development of skilled reading. |