Word Recognition Latencies as a Function of Form Class, Stem Length, and Affix Length

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of form class (nouns or verbs), stem length (3-10 letters per word) and affix length of inflicted verbs (‘ø,’’-s,’ ‘-ed,’ or ‘-ing’) on the recognition latency of visually presented stimuli. Stem length proved to be a significant source of variation for all words and for the noun stimuli separately, but not for the verb stimuli. Subsequent analysis of the verb data revealed that stem length was a significant source of variation only on the first block of trials and that the additional time required for processing affixes is reduced between the first and fourth block of trials. The data fit a letter-by-letter interpretation of the recognition process, modified by a possible morphemic segmentation strategy for affixes.