Abstract
Subjects studied visually presented compound words (e.g.,toothpaste, heartache) and then received a recognition, perceptual identification, or word-fragment completion test that contained old, recombined (e.g.,toothache), and partially and completely new words. False recognitions increased with the increasing number of previously studied components; however, priming in perceptual identification occurred only for old words. Priming in word-fragment completion occurred for old and recombined words. Reducing the time available to solve word fragments, from 20 sec to 5 sec, did not affect the pattern of results; it is therefore unlikely that priming for recombined words resulted from the use of a recollection-based strategy. Memory tasks that involve a conceptual component access memories that are constructed from parts; memory tasks that are primarily perceptual do not access such memories.
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Reinitz, M.T., Demb, J.B. Implicit and explicit memory for compound words. Memory & Cognition 22, 687–694 (1994). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209253
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209253