Naming cAsE aLtErNaTeD words

Abstract

A dual-route approach was used as an initial framework to examine the relation between presentation format and lexical processing in a naming task. In Experiments 1 and 3, words were presented in lowercase versus case- alternated format. Presentation format interacted with word frequency and regularity: For irregular words (e.g., pint), case alternation was additive with frequency, whereas for regular words (e.g., mint), case alternation and frequency interacted. Experiment 2 dissociated the locus of case-alternation effects from those of stimulus intensity. Stimulus intensity was additive with frequency and regularity, suggesting that whereas stimulus intensity affects encoding, case alternation affects lexical processing at a postencoding stage in the word recognition system. It was concluded that a dual-route approach provides a suggestive but incomplete account of how case alternation influences lexical processing. As an alternative to a dual-route approach, we show that the present results can be addressed and successfully simulated using an implemented version of Norris's (1994) multilevel model.