Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to examine whether the word-frequency effect in recognition memory is primarily a modality-dependent phenomenon. In the first experiment, the presentation modality of a target word was varied orthogonally during the input of the test phases. In the second, the subjects were forced to process each input word at the letter-byo letter level, thus minimizing the orthographical differences between the high- and low-frequency words. The word-frequency effect was found in every experimental condition and should be considered a modality-independent phenomenon. A semantically based interpretation of this effect was proposed.
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This study was supported by an intramural research grant from the Academic Senate of the University of California, Riverside, to the second author.
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Lee, A.T., Tzeng, O.J.L., Garro, L.C. et al. Sensory modality and the word-frequency effect. Memory & Cognition 6, 306–311 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197460
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197460